


Revelations

by SLynn



Series: Apocalypse [5]
Category: Heroes (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Season 1 up to Fallout
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-08-16
Updated: 2008-04-15
Packaged: 2017-12-25 13:54:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 68,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/953885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SLynn/pseuds/SLynn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the end is the beginning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another LJ import so some of the chapters are multiples. I think I'm getting the hang of this. I hope. This one takes place after Resurrection.

  
**Chapter 1: Warning**

_The pain ripped through him like an electrical current._

_They were taking something out of him and simultaneously putting something in._

_They were drilling a hole in his head; drilling a hole through his brain._

_And the pain…_

_He screamed and screamed, eyes clamped together tightly, and still he could hear the laugh of someone not far off._

_It was amusing to them._

_His suffering was making them laugh, the knowledge of which only made him angrier and more humiliated over the situation – one he could do nothing about. He knew he couldn’t stop them. They had him; he was there’s for whatever purposes they desired. To be tortured and laughed at. To be used and discarded._

_And they were using him._

_They were taking a part of him, but he couldn’t…_

_He couldn’t…_

_He…_

_…_

Matt woke with a start in a cold sweat, sitting upright and looking around an all too familiar room.

It took a moment for him to recall exactly where he was, but only a moment.

He was home.

Matt swung his legs out and over the side of the bed, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to forget that awful nightmare. It was only that after all, just a bad dream.

There was definitely something real, something disturbingly real about it, but in the light of the morning, yawning and stretching back to life, Matt found it hard to be too worried about it.

Just as he checked the clock on the bedside table, Matt heard the door creak open behind him.

“I was just coming to wake you.”

Matt turned and smiled at Janice as an unfamiliar sense of relief washed over him. Relief so strong it nearly brought tears to his eyes.

“Everything alright?” she asked, moving to sit beside him on the bed and looking extremely concerned. “You look…”

“I’m fine,” he said quickly, squeezing her hand in his. “I just… I’m happy to see you. It feels like… It feels like I haven’t seen you in a long time and… Must have been the dream. That’s all. I had a bad dream.”

“Maybe you should call in sick,” Janice said, still looking uneasy. “If you’re not well. Matt, I don’t like the idea of you out there…”

“I’m fine,” he assured her, kissing her quickly on the cheek before standing to cross the room. “It’s nothing. Really. I’m better already.”

Matt looked at Janice, still sitting on the bed, and wanted to believe what he was saying, but he couldn’t. The feeling, that sense of dread, couldn’t be shaken loose.

Heading to the dresser to get a clean change of clothes, he knew there was definitely something wrong. Maybe not with him or with Janice, but with the room itself; there was something off about it.

Pausing with his hand on the drawer he turned back to Janice, but she remained unmoved.

Instead of opening it and continuing on like he knew he should, Matt reached up and took a picture frame from the top; an empty picture frame.

“Janice,” he began, “what happened to this? Where…”

She was up and at his side in an instance, taking the frame from his hand.

“What do you mean?” she asked as she examined it for herself.

“Our wedding picture,” Matt explained, as if it was obvious. “It’s gone. It’s…”

The words died in his throat as she handed it back.

The picture was there now, back in its frame where it belonged. Where it had always been. Just like he’d remembered it.

It was her favorite one. It had been Janice’s favorite.

Had…

Shaking his head, Matt put the picture face down on the dresser and stared back at his wife.

“What’s wrong?” she asked with an eerily familiar smile.

“Nothing,” Matt answered, choosing to ignore it for now as he turned back to the dresser and finally opened the drawer.

Staring down, he wasn’t surprised this time. It was as empty as he knew it would be.

That’s when she laughed.

Matt turned back to Janice, except it wasn’t Janice anymore; it was Jenny.

And it all came crashing back down on him like so many times before.

Janice was dead, had been for many years now. Audrey was dead, killed because she didn’t fit into the plan. And Jenny, Jenny was still very much alive.

“You have to admit,” she said smugly as the room around him shifted, “I’m getting better.”

Matt shook his head as the room began to shimmer around him, returning to its natural state.

“I never can get the details out of you,” Jenny said, moving across the room to her favorite spot behind a table that hadn’t been there a moment before and talking to him much as she would an old friend. “They’re all there, inside your head, I just… You won’t give them up. It would be so much easier if you did.”

Matt said nothing, just moved to his allotted spot across from her as he struggled, as he always did, with the guilt these little sessions caused.

“But, considering how long it’s been, you do remember it remarkably well,” Jenny continued, undisturbed by his obvious discomfort. “I suppose it’s all still in there, if I dig deep enough, right? Is that how it works? Memories stay intact?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Matt said in a quiet voice, staring down at his hands intently. “I can’t look inside your head.”

“No,” said Jenny with a satisfied grin, “you can’t. I’ve taken care of that, haven’t I?”

Matt didn’t answer, but his hand did reach up unconsciously to touch the brace around his neck. The inhibitor she’d been making him wear now for nearly six months.

“I wish I could trust you enough to turn it off,” Jenny continued insincerely, “but I just can’t. Not after last time. Really, Matt, when are you going to stop fighting me?”

“When are you going to let us go?”

“You know I can’t do that,” she answered, leaning back in her chair with a self-satisfied smirk. “I’m keeping you here for your own safety. Do you know what would happen to you out there? Do you…”

“Stop it,” Matt said sharply, looking her dead in the eyes. Hating what she was doing. Hating how she was creeping into his head again.

“I thought you’d be used to it by now.”

“It’s not necessary,” Matt returned, trying to keep his temper in check. Knowing first hand the damage it could cause him and his friends. “I’ve already told you everything…”

“Everything you remember,” Jenny spat back. “Yes, I know. The problem is, Matthew, you don’t remember enough. That’s why I have to keep doing this. That’s why you and your friends are still here. If you would just let me in… If I could just see it all then I could stop.”

“I’ve told you everything I can,” Matt returned, quiet once more. “And don’t call me that.”

“But your dreams… your dreams tell another story,” Jenny said, beginning to calm down once more, ignoring his last request. “If we’re going to stop them, we have to know. I need to know everything they did. I need to know exactly what Primatech has planned and you’re the only one that can tell me.”

“You’re monitoring my dreams,” he said, annoyed by her tone. As if he was purposely holding back. “Isn’t that enough? You don’t have…”

“Don’t have to what?” she snapped back.

Matt didn’t answer; they both knew what he was going to say anyway.

Of course Jenny didn’t have to make him think he was back with his wife; that everything was still okay and would be. She didn’t have to make him believe that this might all be just one huge, awful nightmare. She did it because she found it amusing. It was her form of torture and entertainment.

She’d never stop.

“You’re as bad as the doctor,” Jenny said, slamming her hands on the table. “No one seems capable of doing their job around here but me.”

Matt said nothing. It was better to say nothing when Jenny started to rant this way.

“He keeps saying, over and over, that he can’t do it but I know that he can,” Jenny continued. “Liar. I know he can. He just doesn’t want to. He doesn’t realize that he’s not just helping me, he’s helping his friends too.”

Matt continued to maintain his steady silence, despite feeling Jenny’s eyes on him.

“What should I do?”

He only shook his head in response.

“Matt,” she urged, reaching across the table in a gesture that was too familiar and too disturbing for him to tolerate. “You have to do something. You have to make Dr. Suresh cooperate. Tell me how to make him do it. Make him help me.”

Matt fought down a violent shudder as Jenny put her hands over his.

“I can’t… I can’t make him do it if… He’s trying his best,” Matt stammered out. “Mohinder is doing everything…”

“He’s doing nothing!” Jenny shouted, jumping to her feet. “Nothing! And I know… I know he can! He can do it, he just doesn’t want to. He wants us dead, Matt. He’s going to let us die!”

“You can’t just expect him to come up with a cure…”

“But he can,” Jenny interrupted. “He can. I know it. He’s the one.”

“You’ve said that before and I still…”

“He’s the one,” she repeated, almost maniacally. “He’s the one and… And he just won’t. Why won’t he? Why? You have to… Matt, you have to make him do it.”

“I can’t,” Matt said, growing disturbed by her continued raving. “What do you expect me to do? If you can’t make him then…”

“Don’t lie to me!” she shouted nearly nose-to-nose with him now. “Don’t!”

“Jenny, I…”

“I know what you can do,” she whispered fiercely, not backing down a single inch. “I know, Matt.”

Matt shook his head again, feeling her back inside his mind further than she’d ever been before.

Twitching slightly, he tried in vain to shake her off, but she held firm.

“I know,” she repeated quietly.

For a moment, a long moment, Matt was really worried. Scared that maybe she did know. That Jenny had finally figured it out and that she was simply toying with him, waiting for him to make a mistake.

“I don’t know…”

Jenny let out a grunt of frustration, finally backing away and pacing the room.

“It’s so frustrating,” she raged as she walked. “You can do it. You will be able to. I know it… never been wrong… but why do I have to wait. How long…”

Matt watched her progress back and forth across the room, but said nothing. As much as he wanted to know what she was muttering about, he didn’t want to attract her attention any more than necessary.

“I wonder if it’s the inhibitor,” she continued on as if he wasn’t even there. “Maybe… but the last time I turned it off…”

She stopped now and looked at him, struggling with some decision.

It didn’t take a mind reader to wonder at what it was. Matt knew she was torn between wanting him to use his power and not wanting him to. She loved holding it over him, having that control, but it was evident that whatever it was she thought he could do to persuade Mohinder to work harder involved using that power.

And the last time she had ‘let him’ use it, it hadn’t gone well. The first thing Matt had done was close off his mind to her, and she hadn’t liked that one bit. Matt was stronger than she was, better at controlling his gift, and she didn’t like that either.

“We’re done for today,” she finished abruptly, walking to the door having decided not to risk it.

Matt only nodded, watching as she tapped on the door roughly and waited for the guard.

“Take him to the lab with the others,” Jenny ordered the man who came to the door.

“Yes, ma’am,” he answered, walking over to where Matt was now standing.

Jenny gave Matt one last hard, probing glance before leaving. A final reminder of what she could do and what he couldn’t. A little more salt in the wound in her own special way; rewarded with a flinch at the unwelcome and pointless invasion.

“Let’s go, Parkman,” the guard huffed, taking him by the arm more as a matter of protocol than out of any real need. It wasn’t like Matt and his friends were going to escape. They hadn’t even tried once.

“Are they already there?” Matt asked as they walked down the hall, knowing the way by heart.

He wasn’t exactly friendly with any of the guards, Jenny made sure to rotate them regularly, but none of them were exceedingly hostile either.

“Yeah, they’re there,” was the reply.

Matt nodded.

“They should be having breakfast soon,” the guard continued as they neared their final destination. “I’ll have them send up yours.”

“Thanks,” said Matt, honestly meaning it.

The guard jerked his head in acknowledgment.

_‘Poor bastard, if he knew what the scribe was saying… the trouble he’s in…’_

“In you go,” he said instead, opening the door for Matt and waving him inside.

_‘Him and that doctor. If they don’t produce results soon, it’s not going to be pretty. I’d hate to have to see…’_

“Thanks,” Matt said again before the door shut, this time not just for the kindness but for the warning the guard hadn’t realized he’d given him.  


  
**Chapter 2: Unequalled**

It was just like the last time.

Linderman shook his head as he scanned the results.

It was exactly like the last time.

Peter Petrelli had been with them before. Primatech had been fortunate enough to scoop him up just after the incident in New York almost exactly five years earlier. After seeing first hand what he could do, they’d have been crazy not to.

Until that day he’d never even been a blip on their radar.

Certainly Bennet had suspected him, especially after he had saved his daughter, but he’d never reported him. He had never turned him over to the company. Bennet had opted instead to keep the whole thing quiet in the hopes that Claire would go unnoticed.

It had worked for a time, but that time quickly ran out.

It still irked him to this day to know that the very ability, the very power they had so long been looking for had been practically under their noses.

Of course Bennet had paid for his betrayal. He had paid dearly, but it was too late to undo the damage he’d done. By the time he’d put the pieces together, Claire Bennet was already on the run. She had already escaped.

But she couldn’t hide forever.

Sighing as he sat down behind his desk, report still in hand, he knew they’d made another potentially fatal error.

They should have gone after her while she was at the colony. They should have went in and taken her then and there instead of opting to see if she really could cure anything.

The plan had sounded good. They would send Parkman back up to the colony with false memories of his time at Primatech, infected with the virus that was to end this disaster of an experiment, and see if Claire Bennet really was as powerful as they supposed her to be.

And again, mistakes were made.

Maybe the biggest one of all.

They hadn’t counted on Jenny Yi, or rather, they had counted on her too much.

Jenny Yi, either through manipulation or sheer genius, had discovered their plan. Had unearthed their secrets and was now strongly set against them.

Of course it was natural that she wanted to survive. Even now they were working a deal with her to ensure that survival, but Linderman knew she no longer trusted them. And, unfortunately, she also had exactly who they needed.

Jenny Yi had taken Claire Bennet hostage and it was exceedingly unlikely she would ever give her up.

She’d also taken Parkman, Suresh and the other Petrelli, which was no real surprise. What puzzled Linderman to this day was why she hadn’t picked up Peter as well.

Jenny Yi was no fool; she had to know what he was capable of. She had to know the power he had.

And maybe that was it.

In the same way she ignored Gabriel Gray, Jenny seemed to ignore Peter Petrelli as well.

Perhaps she was afraid of him.

If that was true their case wasn’t as hopeless as they’d thought.

The intercom buzzed once letting him know that his visitor had arrived.

“Send him in,” he said quickly, sitting up straighter and reorganizing the papers in his hands.

The door opened and Linderman didn’t bother to stand, only nodded his head as Peter Petrelli was escorted inside.

“How are you today, Peter?” he asked once they were alone again.

Peter merely shrugged. He was still heavily drugged from the procedure and a bit out of it, but just coherent enough for conversation.

“The effects will wear off eventually,” Linderman assured him. “I know it isn’t pleasant…”

“No, you don’t,” Peter countered.

“Well, I don’t know firsthand,” Linderman conceded with a small smile, “but I have seen enough of them to get the general idea.”

Peter laughed humorlessly.

“I don’t like causing people pain, Peter, but it is a necessary evil.”

“No,” said Peter, shaking his head. “It isn’t. You don’t have to do this. You want to.”

“I only want to understand you.”

“You want to control me.”

“Peter,” Linderman said as he stood, trying a different approach. “I want you to trust me. I want you to understand the work we are doing here. The benefits that could be had and shared by all mankind. Think of that. Think of a world where no one would ever get hurt, where no one would die. If we could only…”

“It didn’t work, did it?” Peter interrupted to ask, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “You couldn’t do it. You couldn’t get at me.”

“It was not as successful as we’d hoped,” Linderman said tightly.

“I told you it wouldn’t work.”

Linderman sat on the corner of his desk in a gesture Peter found both familiar and irritating. Everything about Linderman was like that. The way he talked to him like they were old friends. The way he lied to him.

“Yes,” Linderman said with a nod. “You certainly did. You are much more unique than we ever thought, Peter. We never expected to see anyone like you. Your ability, your capability of shutting it off… it’s special. But given… well, given the circumstances, we should have known.”

“I’m not so special,” Peter countered, feeling a bit uneasy about what was being implied. Not wanting to hear anymore.

“But you are,” the older man continued. “Don’t you know that there is only a handful like you? A handful of those with abilities that were born with their gift intact. That we didn’t have to trigger or manipulate into being.”

Despite himself, Peter was curious.

“I could count on one hand the number, like yourself, still living.”

“I wasn’t… I wasn’t like the others?” Peter asked tentatively. “I thought that this experiment, that you started it all. That…”

“No, no, no,” Linderman said, shaking his head with a laugh. “Not all of it. There have always been people like us, Peter. A small, very small, percentage of the population with extraordinary abilities. It’s genetic, you know. Passed from parent to child, but mostly dormant. Most of those that possess the gene will never evolve, it’s just a chosen few.”

“Until you started helping them along,” Peter added.

“Yes,” Linderman admitted. “We discovered a way to speed up evolution. To activate the inactive.”

“You did this, activated these gifts, and what… sat back and watched?”

“Not exactly,” Linderman said. “We tested them, tracked them, ensured that anyone that was potentially dangerous was taken care of.”

“Like Sylar?” Peter accused.

“A mistake,” Linderman returned. “We all make them. How could we have foreseen that Mr. Gray would become such a monster? That his ability would be so destructive?”

“You seem to make a lot of mistakes.”

“Yes, but all great men do.”

“Is that how you see yourself?” Peter asked. “As a great man? Doing great things? Admit it. You want Claire’s gift for yourself. You don’t want to save the world. You don’t want to help mankind. You want to exploit her. You want to live forever.”

“Why should she alone be capable of that?”

Peter didn’t have an answer.

“And who doesn’t want that?” Linderman asked, rising and returning to his original seat behind the desk. “Immortality. Think of it, Peter. Think of it.”

He only shook his head in response.

“But you already have it,” Linderman continued, staring hard at him now. “Don’t you? You can do…”

“I can’t do what Claire does. I can’t…”

“You can’t right now because you don’t want to.”

Linderman continued to stare at him, to watch Peter as he in turn looked at the floor.

“There is so much we could do together, Peter,” he went on after a lengthy pause. “So much good. That’s all you’ve ever wanted, right? To do good. I’ll admit, I haven’t watched over your progress the way I have Nathan’s, but I know enough about you. I know your character, your goodness. To be indestructible, to live forever, it means that we could oppose men like Mr. Gray. There would be no equaling it. There would be no equaling us. We could stand up to them and destroy…”

“But who would stand up to us?”

“I’m sorry?”

“If you were all powerful, who could stop you?” Peter continued. “Who would keep you in check? A man without an equal is like a god. I don’t want that. And I won’t help you become that either.”

“Peter, I’m offering you an incredible opportunity here. I’m offering…”

“You’re trying to turn me into someone I’m not.”

“I wish I could make you understand my goals,” Linderman said, unable to concede to defeat just yet. “Peter, this is your destiny. This is what you were meant to do. With your gift, with your power…”

“I said no.”

“You…” Linderman said, stopping and shaking a fist at him. “You have to try and understand. You have to at least listen to me. I’ve worked too long for this only to have you destroy my chances.”

“I’ve listened to you and there’s nothing you can say that would make me change my mind. Do what you want with me. Run me through the process again, I doubt you’ll get any better results. I don’t care how many times, how many talks... I will not help you.”

“Such a disappointment,” Linderman sighed. “Your parents, if they could see…”

“My parents have nothing to do with this.”

“They have everything to do with it!” Linderman shouted, for the first time sounding truly angry.

Peter sat quietly, not sure what to think.

“If they knew,” said Linderman after a pause, more composed than before. “If they knew that their son was the key, and was standing in the way. Was refusing to help. The shame of it. After all of their hard work. The absolute shame of it.”

He wouldn’t believe it. Peter shook his head and tried not to listen, but it was nearly impossible to do.

“You… you were always a great disappointment to them because, for so long, they thought you weren’t one of us. It was frustrating, very frustrating.”

“My parents… my parents weren’t…”

“You think not?” Linderman questioned, eyebrow raised.

“They…”

“Of course they were,” Linderman snapped. “Didn’t I tell you it’s genetic? Didn’t I say it was a gift passed on from parent to child? Where do you think you got it from?”

“I never thought…” Peter stammered, completely taken back by this discovery. “Why didn’t they say something? Why…”

“Because they thought you were like the rest,” Linderman continued. “An entire generation without abilities. Each of us had had a child; we saw it as our duty. We watched you all carefully as you grew, knowing that sometimes it took years to develop, but nothing. Your father in particular took it very hard. It wasn’t until we had nearly given up, had started looking to outsiders, that it happened. That you all evolved. Nathan was the first, of course, then Nakamura. Deveaux never did gain an ability, but we assumed that was only because she had just one parent with the gene; only Charles. You didn’t have that excuse. You were just a failure.”

“Simone? Hiro? They’re… they’re a part of this… their parents…”

“It was a small group,” Linderman answered vaguely. “Sadly, I’m the only one that remains. I’m the only one left to carry out our plan.”

“You’re making this up,” Peter said, shaking his head violently from side to side. “You’re making this up. This can’t be…”

“It is real,” interrupted Linderman. “Very real.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Which part?” asked Linderman.

“All of it,” Peter exclaimed. “You’re just saying this to get me to help you. Telling lies about my family. Hoping I’ll believe it and fall into line. I won’t. I won’t believe…”

“Do you remember how your mother died?”

Peter paled visibly at the question.

“Do you?” Linderman repeated. “How she was killed? By whom?”

Slightly, very slightly, Peter nodded that he did.

“Mr. Gray killed her,” Linderman continued. “He killed her while looking for you. Haven’t you ever wondered why?”

“Sylar has never needed a reason to kill anyone.”

“Oh, but he has,” the older man corrected. “He’s always needed a reason.”

Peter sat back in his chair feeling uneasy and uncertain. Feeling as if his whole life had been one continuous lie. Feeling betrayed like he’d never felt before. And alone; very much alone.

“He may have come to her house that day looking for you, Peter, but what he saw… the ability he saw in Angela was too tempting to pass up.”  


  
**Chapter 3: Liar**

Claire sat alternating between staring at the clock and at the door.

“He’ll be here soon,” Mohinder said, looking up briefly from his microscope. “I’m sure of it.”

“You said that yesterday,” Claire countered, not looking his way. “We haven’t seen him all week.”

Mohinder looked at the door now himself, slightly disconcerted.

“It’s happened before,” he finally said.

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Claire admitted. “The last time… The last time we missed seeing him was because…”

“She needs him too much to do anything… permanent.”

“And that makes it okay,” Claire said just under her breath.

“No,” Mohinder said, quite seriously. “It doesn’t. It doesn’t make it okay, Claire. But he’s alive. She’s keeping him alive.”

“She’s only keeping any of us alive because she needs to. Without you, without Matt… she’s as good as dead. It’s not like she really cares about what happens to us. It’s all about her.”

“Claire,” Mohinder sighed, briefly covering his eyes with his hands, “I really don’t want to go over this again. It’s a pointless discussion. There’s nothing we can do to stop her and nothing to gain from resisting.”

“I know,” she said softly.

“I don’t like this any more than you do,” Mohinder continued, returning to his work. “But, we should be thankful for small favors.”

Claire nodded, going back to watching the door.

The two of them had been very fortunate, all things considered. Jenny hardly even bothered them. Mohinder talked with her the most, but she never tormented him; it was strictly business. And Claire… for the most part she pretended Claire didn’t exist at all.

It was only Matt and Nathan that she seemed truly bent on torturing.

Claire supposed she should feel lucky that she even got to see Matt; they hadn’t seen Nathan at all since the first night they’d been brought in. Mohinder and Matt kept insisting he was still alive, but Claire had her moments of doubt. Jenny may need Mohinder, Matt, and herself, but why she’d taken Nathan captive wasn’t nearly as clear.

Finally they heard the sound of approaching footsteps and Claire was relieved to see Matt walk into the room.

Smiling, nearly frantic from happiness, she got to her feet and quickly crossed the room to him. So completely relieved to see him again that Claire wasn’t sure even how to properly express herself.

Matt hugged her tightly, but briefly, before crossing to Mohinder with a determined look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Mohinder asked, sensing it had to be serious if Matt hadn’t even stopped to talk with Claire first.

“How are you getting on here?”

“Not great,” Mohinder admitted, shaking his head. “I don’t know… I can’t isolate exactly what they injected you with. It’s still in your system, dormant. I know that if you were infected again, you’d be immune, but I can’t… I can’t seem to recreate a vaccine.”

“Not even with Claire?”

“No,” Mohinder confirmed. “Not even with her genetic profile as a guide. It’s hopeless. It can’t be done.”

“Have you told her this?”

“Not yet,” he answered. “She’s coming in for an update today. I planned…”

“No,” Matt said gravely. “No, you can’t tell her that. Tell her anything but that. Lie. Do something, anything to buy yourself some more time.”

“Buy time?” Mohinder repeated.

“What is it?” Claire asked, growing more concerned with every word spoken. “What has she said?”

“Mohinder,” Matt continued, momentarily ignoring Claire and quite as serious as before. “She expects results. She’s determined to get them and she really believes you can give them to her.”

“But I can’t,” he argued.

“Then make something up,” Matt returned through gritted teeth, sounding angry even. “You tell her you can’t and she is going to come apart on you. I’ve been doing... Just—just make something up, alright?”

“I can’t just lie to her, Matt,” Mohinder said, not liking the way this conversation was turning out at all. “You know it’s not possible. She’ll see through it. She’ll…”

“Not if you tell her what she wants to hear.”

“What she wants to hear is that I’ve got the magic cure for a plague that may never happen,” Mohinder countered.

“Then tell her you’re close to it. That a few more days or weeks and…”

“Matt,” Claire said sharply, finally drawing his attention off of the other man. “You’re talking…”

“Crazy, I know,” he finished for her. “But really, she has bad things… She’s not going to wait forever…”

“Then why postpone the inevitable?” Mohinder asked.

Matt sighed, feeling defeated as he turned away from the two of them.

“Matt,” Mohinder said, “sooner or later, she’s going to come after me. I know this. I’ve accepted it from the moment we were put on that helicopter. I’m not afraid…”

“You should be,” Matt interrupted. “You should be afraid. It’s not like before, Mohinder. She’s not the same as she was the last time we were all here. She’s stronger now. She’s so much stronger and better at what she does that there are moments when…”

Matt rubbed a hand across his face in complete frustration, already feeling the beginning of what was likely to be a massive migraine.

“For whatever reason, she thinks you can do this,” Matt said as calmly as he could. “I don’t know why and it doesn’t really matter why. She thinks you can unlock whatever genetic mystery makes Claire the way she is. Just you, Mohinder. If you’re holding back…”

“I’m not,” Mohinder interjected angrily. “I wouldn’t do that. I couldn’t, not with what’s at risk. Not knowing what she’s capable of. I’d never do that.”

“Matt, what did she say to you?” Claire asked.

“That she wants results,” Matt answered, still looking at Mohinder. “That you have to give her results and that I… that I would should know how to get them out of you.”

“You?” asked Claire, surprised.

She wasn’t the only one. Mohinder was surprised as well.

“What does that mean?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Matt said, throwing his hands into the air before sitting down in the nearest chair. “I don’t. She’s… she’s losing her mind, I think.”

“Like Sylar?” questioned Mohinder.

“Probably,” Matt agreed with a nod. “Probably just like him. Too much power. Too much ego. Who knows. She was never really balanced to begin with if you ask me, but now… Now she’s just obsessed.”

“She’s always been obsessed,” Claire said darkly, Matt catching her full meaning.

It was true.

For whatever reason, Jenny was fixated on Matt. Whether it was the similarities of their powers or something else he couldn’t comprehend, he was her favorite target on every occasion.

“Matt, I’m not sure I can…”

Mohinder stopped talking as soon as the door opened; Jenny walked in and the tension grew thick.

“How is everyone this morning?” she asked in a falsely cheery tone.

“Fine,” Mohinder answered for the three of them. “Just fine.”

“Hard at work?” she asked, ignoring Matt and Claire for the time being and coming closer to Mohinder.

“Very,” he said with a short nod, looking down the microscope he had before him.

“And?”

“And?” Mohinder repeated.

“Don’t play dumb,” Jenny returned in a voice as icy as it previously was nice. “How much longer?”

“I’m… I’m afraid…” Mohinder stammered, catching Matt’s intense gaze from just over Jenny’s shoulder.

“You’re afraid of what?” Jenny snapped.

“I’m afraid it’s going to take at least another week or two,” Mohinder finished lamely.

Matt visibly relaxed just within Mohinder's sight.

“Another week or two?” she repeated, her teeth tugging on her upper lip in a gesture Mohinder found strangely disturbing.

“Yes,” Mohinder answered, but she was no longer looking at him.

Jenny had turned her eyes to Matt instead.

“Did you tell him to say that?” she asked.

“No,” Matt said completely stone-faced.

Jenny nodded slowly, turning her back on Matt once more as she reached for an object on her belt.

“Matt,” she said in a low voice, still not facing him, “you are lying to me.”

Jenny whipped back around so quickly that there was no time to react. Before Matt had even registered she was facing him again, that she was glaring once more in his direction, he was on the floor reeling in pain.

Claire screamed and Mohinder took an involuntary step forward in an effort to help.

It was over quickly, but the duration didn’t make it any less painful. Matt lay on the floor, trying to catch his breath.

“Don’t touch him!” Jenny shrieked at Claire as she moved to help him back to his feet.

Claire stopped only to give her a look full of loathing.

“I mean it,” Jenny said, advancing on the younger woman. “If you touch him, I swear, I’ll turn this thing up so high his eyes will bleed.”

Claire looked at Matt, who was now getting up without assistance, albeit on shaky feet.

“I’m fine,” he assured her.

Nodding reluctantly, she stepped back.

“Good,” Jenny snapped, turning her attention back to Matt. “Now, do you want to revise your answer?”

“I did,” Matt said, still shaking a bit from the intensity of the attack. “I told him to say it.”

“Why?”

“I don’t… I knew you wanted…”

“Liar!” Jenny shouted as she activated the device once more, sending Matt crashing back to the floor.

“Stop it!” Claire yelled, still staying put but nearing complete panic.

“You are lying to me!” Jenny continued to shout, standing over him now and glaring down at him. “I know it! I know!”

“I’m not lying,” Matt said between gasps. “I’m not. I just thought…”

Matt stopped talking immediately as Jenny ripped through his head. Claire watched fearfully, turning silently to Mohinder for support, but there was nothing to be done. Nothing they could do for Matt now. Nothing they could do to keep from witnessing what was about to transpire.

Shaking uncontrollably, Matt watched as the room appeared to melt around him. Shuffling backwards to the wall, he tried to fight her off but Jenny was in too deep now.

“Tell me the truth,” she demanded, coming ever closer.

And it wasn’t just the room, her face was melting too. Her skin, Jenny’s skin was dripping off of her face revealing the muscle, and in places the bone, underneath.

“Stop it,” Matt said quietly.

“Tell me the truth and I will,” Jenny said as Matt looked wildly around the room.

Everywhere he looked, everyone he looked at, it was all the same. They were all falling apart. They were all bleeding and dying; bursting into flame and screaming in agony.

“Get out of my head,” Matt managed through clenched teeth. “Get out.”

“Make me,” she taunted, not giving an inch.

“Out,” he repeated, stronger this time. “Get out. Get out. Get out!”

“You’re not even trying!”

_‘OUT!’_

Jenny felt it.

It was her turn to shudder and shake as she dropped the connection completely, staggering backward several steps in the process; it was her turn to look afraid.

But that wasn’t all. She wasn’t alone.

They had all heard it.

Her guard, the man standing directly beside her, tilted his head oddly to one side and then, without saying a word, turned and headed for the exit.

Mohinder, still in front of Matt, but further back than any of them, also moved toward the door, his expression blank, only to be stopped by Claire before he could join the guard out in the hallway.

Jenny turned around in a tight circle, looking momentarily as if she was also about to leave, like she was going to take the command literally, before focusing back in on Matt.

“How did you do that?” she asked quietly, sounding awed. “How…”

“How did you know I could?” Matt asked in return.

Jenny paused to consider it for a moment before nodding her head slowly.

“There’s someone you should meet.”  



	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 4: Connections**  
  
It had taken Hiro, Lauren, Micah and D.L. about two months to get there, to find their way into the heart of it all, and it had not been easy.   
  
Hiro had quickly ruled out teleporting them inside, it was simply too dangerous. He had only jumped through time and space on a few occasions, and each of those times he had not been able to properly control either the location or the time lapse. Teleporting meant risking an enormous amount of time, maybe too much. What if he took them ten years into the future? What if they ended up ten years in the past?  
  
He wouldn’t risk it, not until he was certain he knew what he was doing.  
  
So they’d gone the old fashion way.  
  
They had driven.  
  
Micah had no problem procuring them a ride and it had all gone remarkably smooth until they began to near the borderland of the Republic. Whatever false memories had been planted inside of Audrey and Matt about the Republic and their time spent inside Primatech, one thing was definitely true; the Republic was like some kind of perverse utopia.  
  
They had gotten in, had gotten around the inhibitors Matt had previously told them about, by stopping time and simply walking around them; walking a long way around them. As it turned out, even with time stopped, the inhibitors interrupted their abilities.   
  
Being inside it was a different story.  
  
They had to lay low. They couldn’t go out into public too much, and obtaining food and other supplies was extremely difficult. Ironically finding Peter hadn’t been too difficult, but rescuing him was turning out to be impossible.  
  
“Any luck?” Lauren asked as Hiro and D.L. returned from their nightly mission, the sun well into the sky.  
  
“No,” Hiro answered, shaking his head and sitting down beside her.  
  
They were staying in an abandoned farmhouse a few miles outside of town. It wasn’t much but it was the best they could do. They felt lucky to have even that, there had been several nights they had simply had to sleep under the stars, and Texas was cold this time of year.  
  
“It’s like Fort Knox,” D.L. added, sitting just opposite the two and next to his son. “He’s got to be in there, it’s their main facility, but we just can’t get close enough to check.”  
  
“Too many inhibitors?” Micah questioned, scratching his head as if to figure a way around it.  
  
“Exactly,” D.L. answered. “We can’t get within a hundred yards without our powers just… just shutting down.”  
  
“Maybe from the air…” Hiro mused.  
  
“Well, yeah,” D.L. said. “If we could fly. But we can’t, so…”  
  
“What about a helicopter?” Micah asked. “If we could get one then…”  
  
“That’s a big ‘if’,” argued D.L. “And even if we did, they still have weapons. Those inhibitors aren’t the only thing keeping us out.”  
  
Lauren and Micah exchanged a brief glance.  
  
“What?” Hiro asked, it having not escaped his attention.  
  
“We were thinking,” Lauren said slowly, knowing what she was about to say would not go over well, “that maybe we’re going about this the wrong way. Maybe there is an easier way of getting one of us inside.”  
  
“How?” asked D.L., wondering what it could be. They’d been trying for weeks to come up with a plan to no avail. Breaking in just didn’t seem feasible anymore for any of them.  
  
“Well,” Lauren said, pausing briefly; gaining confidence from Micah’s nod of encouragement. “Well, we should consider letting them catch one of us.”  
  
“No,” D.L. said immediately, shaking his head in a quick form of denial. “Absolutely not.”  
  
“It’s too dangerous,” Hiro seconded. “Way too dangerous. There is no telling…”  
  
“There is no way we are going to break in,” Lauren said in an uncustomary forceful tone. “None. Our only chance is to possibly break out.”  
  
“No,” D.L. repeated.  
  
“Dad,” Micah injected, “just hear us out.”  
  
“Us?” D.L. asked. “You’re in on this idea too?”  
  
“Yes,” Micah said with a nod. “I am. Because it’s a good one. And it’s the only one we have.”  
  
“There has to be another way,” said Hiro, still shaking his head negatively.  
  
“Will you at least hear me?” Lauren asked.  
  
After a pause, both men agreed.  
  
“The way I see it,” Lauren continued, “our only chance to get inside is to be taken there.”  
  
“You’ve both been trying for months to get in,” Micah added looking from his dad to Hiro. “If you can’t, then none of us can.”  
  
“Getting caught would get us inside,” D.L. conceded. “But then what? We’re just going to walk out again?”  
  
“Not all of us,” Lauren said, growing nervous. “It shouldn’t be everyone. I was thinking…”  
  
“What?” Hiro asked quickly. “You were thinking…”  
  
“Just me,” Lauren said.  
  
“No.”  
  
“Hiro,” Lauren said firmly. “Listen. You said you’d listen, now please. Listen to me. It would have to be me. I’m the only one here who isn’t on some master list. I’m the only one they don’t really know about. You, D.L. and Micah… they’d see you and suspect what was happening. They’d suspect some kind of attack or escape. But me…”  
  
“I can’t let you do this,” interrupted Hiro. “I won’t. It’s too dangerous. There is too much risk involved.”  
  
“It has to be done,” Lauren returned.  
  
“Not by you.”  
  
A heavy silence followed.  
  
“Come on, Micah,” D.L. said, getting to his feet and tapping his son on the shoulder. “Let’s see about getting some more firewood.”  
  
Micah didn’t answer, just got to his feet and followed his father outside, leaving Hiro and Lauren alone.  
  
“I’m going to do this,” Lauren said quietly. “It’s our only option.”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Hiro…”  
  
“I’m not going to lose you too,” he said, unable to meet her eyes. “I’ve already lost… I can’t be responsible if something…”  
  
“You’re not responsible,” said Lauren. “It’s not… None of this is your fault. I know the risks I’d be taking. I know what could happen to me. I’d never blame you for it. After everything you’ve done for me, I couldn’t blame you.”  
  
“I can’t…”  
  
“I’m going to do it with or without your help.”   
  
“And then what?” Hiro asked, growing angry at her refusal to listen to reason. “What will you do next?”  
  
“I’ll break out.”  
  
“You say that as if it was easy,” Hiro returned. “Like you’ll just be able to walk out the front door. If we haven’t been able to get inside after all this time, what makes you think you’ll be able to get out?”  
  
“Because,” Lauren said, quite seriously. “Once I’m inside, I’ll have Peter to help.”  
  
****  
  
Nathan stood in the very center of his very small cell.  
  
He wouldn’t kid himself by calling it a room, it was a cell; a cell with bars on the window and guards on the other side of the door.  
  
It didn’t bother him. At least it was quiet.  
  
Nathan had been kept inside his cell for six months straight now. The only person he’d seen in all that time was the guard who brought him his meals, an occasional change of clothes, and who walked him daily to the showers.  
  
The same guard every single time.  
  
And really, it didn’t bother him because Nathan had other things to do.  
  
Every day, for as long as he could stand it, Nathan followed the last instruction Matt had given him.  
  
‘Concentrate.’  
  
Matt had told him to concentrate, and that’s what he did.  
  
Every day Nathan practiced. He shut his eyes and focused solely on accessing his power.  
  
For a long time, nothing happened, but he kept at it.  
  
Nathan kept at it, day after day, for three months solid before he finally achieved some success; he levitated.  
  
It wasn’t much at first, just a measly inch off the ground, but considering even that, with the inhibitor in place, was supposed to be impossible it felt like a major victory.  
  
After that it became much easier. Nathan could now, with enough concentration, float high enough off of the ground to touch the ceiling.  
  
And still he practiced.  
  
Nathan didn’t know when or if he’d ever get the chance to use his power out in the open again, but if the time came he wanted to be prepared.  
  
In the middle of his daily session he heard uncustomary footsteps approaching his door. Falling gracefully back to the ground, Nathan lay down on his bed just as his cell door rattled open.  
  
“Kind of early for lunch, isn’t it?” he asked, hands resting casually behind his head.  
  
“I’m not here to feed you.”  
  
Nathan tensed slightly at the sound of that voice, its owner not quite visible in the dim light. But he tried not to show it. He hated for her to know she’d gotten to him.  
  
“Well,” Nathan said, sitting up on the bed but making no effort to stand. “This is quite the surprise. To what do I owe this pleasure?”  
  
“Why you sound happy to see me,” Jenny said, still standing in the doorway. “Don’t tell me you’re lonely.”  
  
“Lonely?” Nathan returned with a laugh. “No, not at all. Bob and I get along great.”  
  
“Bob?”  
  
“My guard. Bob,” Nathan answered. “Of course, I don’t know if that’s his real name. He’s not very talkative, but I have to call him something. Bob is a good name for him, I think. He looks like a Bob.”  
  
Jenny nodded slowly but said nothing to it.  
  
“So,” Nathan continued, “are you just here for a chat? Checking up on the prisoners? Or is this it? Is it time?”  
  
“Time for what?”  
  
“Don’t play with me,” Nathan said, growing serious in a hurry. “Is this it? I know why I’m waiting here. What I don’t know is why you’ve waited so long? Unless… No, of course. You like the idea of keeping me waiting. You like that little bit of power you have over me.”  
  
“I have no idea…”  
  
“You know exactly what I mean,” Nathan retorted.  
  
She didn’t answer, but even in the semi-darkness Nathan could see her smiling.  
  
“So, come on Ms. Yi,” Nathan said, stressing her name in the same mocking manner she always did with his own, “let’s get to it. I’m not afraid to die.”  
  
“I’m not going to kill you, Nathan,” Jenny said matter-of-factly. “If I was you’d be dead already. No, you might die someday, but it won’t be because of me. Your connections are still too good. I need you alive.”  
  
“My connections?” Nathan asked, clearly puzzled.  
  
He had no idea what she could mean by that. Unless… Unless someone at Primatech still wanted him alive. Someone there was still pulling for him despite all of this. Someone he thought had already given up on him a long time ago.  
  
“Don’t play dumb,” Jenny spat, growing a bit angry. “I’ve had enough of that today.”  
  
Nathan nodded and didn’t press the issue.  
  
“Why are you here?” he asked, tired of the game.  
  
“Because,” she said reluctantly, “there is someone you should meet.”


	3. Revelations

  
**Chapter 5: Tour**

“It’s a fairly basic operation,” Linderman said as he walked slowly down the hallway, hands clasped behind his back as if they were taking an afternoon stroll. After Peter had calmed down, regained some of his strength from earlier, he’d decided to show him the place. It was his first real look around. “We first test the subject to see exactly what ability they possess. We take blood samples, run some basic tests, take photos; it’s all very well documented.”

“I’m sure it is,” Peter commented, remembering what Audrey had told him about the massive amounts of files she had unearthed; subconsciously rubbing the spot on this wrist that was now marked in the same way he remembered Matt being.

“As you can see, we don’t have a lot of people here now. Just you, Mr. Gray and one other. We aren’t seeing as many as we were. Just the occasional few we catch coming into the Republic. It’s not like it was before.”

“Are there less of us now?”

“There are less people, period,” answered Linderman. “Less population. Plus, I think the initial wave has ended.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Wave,” he repeated. “We called them waves. Sometimes a few people would come into their powers completely unaided. Very few, as I said before. Other times we would help nature along. We called the testing cycles waves. The last wave we initiated was about six months prior to the event in New York.”

“Matt, Niki, D.L.?” Peter questioned.

“Yes. That was the one they belonged to.”

Peter nodded slowly.

“Micah?” he continued to ask, curious now.

“No,” Linderman said. “He was like you. Unique. We knew, given his parents both possessed the proper gene, that he might be capable of it on his own, but we had never tested him.”

“How did you do all this? How did you create…”

“We didn’t create anything,” the other man corrected. “We simply helped nature along. All of those we tested and activated, they already had those powers inside of them. Our job was just to unlock them; to open the door, in a manner of speaking.”

“So what happened?” Peter asked. “I thought you were only doing a handful at a time. Monitoring and looking for a specific power. What did you do when you were done? Did you turn it off?”

“That was… that was the problem,” Linderman admitted. “We didn’t plan far enough ahead. We activated powers without knowing exactly what some would be capable of and without knowing if we could deactivate them if we had to.”

“So why did you keep looking? Why, after Sylar…”

Peter stopped and looked through the glass into what appeared to be a cage. They had been walking through the facility and happened on the very man they’d been discussing.

“He’s still alive,” Peter said in quiet disbelief.

“Sedated,” Linderman returned. “Heavily sedated and enclosed within our strongest inhibitors. Perfectly harmless.”

“I doubt that.”

“He’s an interesting case.”

“Is that why you haven’t killed him?”

“Yes,” Linderman answered calmly. “We have a lot to learn from Mr. Gray.”

“Do you kill them?” Peter asked after they moved on. “If someone is a real threat?”

“We tried not to before, but occasionally it has been done.”

“Before?”

“Things were different before,” Linderman answered vaguely.

“And now? Now you do. You just use them and throw them away?”

“They’re taken well care of,” he returned, refusing to elaborate further.

The continued walking down another long corridor before Linderman spoke again.

“Ah, here is someone you will find interesting.”

Peter turned and looked through another glass partition. Sylar’s cell had had a certain hospital-like feel to it. This one, however, was like a child’s room.

“She’s very gifted,” Linderman said, pointing to the young girl who sat listlessly in a chair with her back to them. “Not exactly what we’d been looking for, but a rare find.”

“She’s a person, not an object,” Peter returned as the girl turned slightly in her seat and stared back at him with a dour expression.

“We found some truly extraordinary gifts this way, through the tests,” the older man continued, ignoring Peter’s bitter remark. “Some amazing ones. Of course, we didn’t get a chance to duplicate them all. In the beginning, there was no way to duplicate a power. We didn’t become fully operational until a few years back.”

“But you’ve been looking for Claire since…”

“Since the beginning,” Linderman finished. “Yes, yes we have.”

“Why?”

“Because she’s special,” Linderman answered without elaboration.

Peter stopped and gave him a hard look.

“We have no plans to harm her,” Linderman explained. “We’ve never intended to harm her.”

“No, you just want to take her gift. Take it; use her up and then what? Keep her prisoner for her own good?”

“Exactly,” answered Linderman, sounding pleased that Peter had reached that particular conclusion on his own. “She should have never gotten that power. She wasn’t meant…”

“You said her father was hiding her from you,” Peter interrupted, trying to put the pieces into place. “So she wasn’t triggered either. She’s like me. Like Micah…”

“This world, even the world before this one, is not a safe place for such a power,” Linderman responded, once again ignoring Peter’s words.

“She heals,” Peter said with a shake of his head, not getting it at all. “She’s not dangerous…”

“It’s not just healing,” Linderman returned, beginning to sound exasperated. “She regenerates. She cures. She doesn’t age.”

“Claire…”

“Think about it, Peter. Picture her for a moment. Picture her as she was before this all began and picture her now. Compare those two images in your mind’s eye and tell me, truthfully, if she’s changed.”

Peter paused, reluctantly doing as he’d been instructed, and was startled to find that Linderman was right. Peter could remember clearly the young woman he’d saved in Texas just over five years ago, and the young woman he’d last seen in Boston six month before. They were identical. Despite the years, the harsh conditions, and the general stress of it all, Claire had not changed one single bit. She was still exactly what she was before.

“I still don’t understand why you’d want to lock her away,” Peter continued.

“Like I said,” replied Linderman, “for her own safety.”

Before Peter could respond, the other man continued.

“History is full of stories, myths like the fountain of youth or the holy grail. Stories, in short, about eternal life. Becoming immortal. It wasn’t long after our group first formed, when we first started to work together, that we theorized that such a prize might not be an object but a genetic code.”

“And so you started having kids and just hoping…”

“It was not so crass as that,” he said with a brutal shake of his head. “It’s not as though your parents weren’t in love, Peter. They were. Very much so. And they wanted a child; not just for all of us; not just for the good of the group. They wanted a child very much.”

“So, they had two,” Peter said, turning away and feeling disgusted by the entire conversation. “One for Primatech and one for…”

Linderman said nothing as Peter trailed off, continuing to watch him with a bemused smile.

“You still don’t know? He never said anything to you about it?”

Peter turned back around.

“I’d have thought Nathan would have told you by now.”

“Told me what?” Peter asked.

“That Nathan was placed with your family very early on.”

“What does that mean, placed? I don’t…”

Peter trailed off again, thinking that maybe he did understand, but still unable to say it.

“Nathan’s own parents were unable to provide him the type of home he needed. They weren’t in a position to look after him…”

“Why don’t you just say it?” Peter interrupted, growing suddenly angry. “Just say that it’s you. You. You’re his father. You were plenty capable of having a child for the cause, but not ready to actually take responsibility for him once he was here. That’s… that’s just…”

“You’re upset,” Linderman said, watching him with a sick fascination. “Disappointed to learn the truth. To find that after all these years Nathan isn’t really…”

“Nathan is my brother,” Peter snapped. “We were still raised in the same family, with the same mother and father. You were just…”

“The donor?” Linderman asked with a smile. “Yes, I suppose it is rather like that. That’s how his biological mother felt about the arrangement. But she was paid well for her time and had no regrets.”

“Has he always known?” Peter had to ask. “When did you tell him? When did Nathan find all this out?”

“Not long after he took office,” answered Linderman, having rather expected the question. “I paid him a visit and we had a nice, civil chat about it all.”

“I bet.”

Linderman laughed.

“Well, as civil as it could be,” he continued.

“But you told him everything,” Peter said after a pause. “About all of this. About what you’d been doing and he…”

“I don’t think he liked it any more than you do,” the older man answered. “I don’t think he liked it at all, but he wasn’t exactly in a position to argue with me.”

Peter didn’t know what to say.

“Plus,” Linderman continued, “there were parts I omitted. Large parts. He was told just enough to keep him in line.”

Peter nodded tightly, sucking in his bottom lip in an effort to keep himself from speaking. Now that he knew what he wanted to say, he realized staying silent was wiser.

“I regret some of my decisions, Peter. I regret that you were so overlooked. Forgotten almost. It was a mistake. If I had raised Nathan, as I ought to have, then that wouldn’t have been the case. I know how he was favored in your family and, I admit, it was because of my influence. He had advantages you didn’t because I wanted to believe he would be the one we were looking for. I wanted to believe that it was in my genetic code that the answers would be found.”

“But Claire was adopted. In the end it was just some random…”

“No,” Linderman interrupted quickly. “It wasn’t random. I was right, after all.”

Peter felt as if his heart might have stopped.

“What?”

“I was right,” Linderman repeated.

“But Claire… She’s not. She can’t be your…”

“Oh no,” Linderman corrected quickly. “She’s not my daughter.”

Peter nodded in relief.

“She’s Nathan’s.”  



	4. Revelations

  
**Chapter 6: Scribe**

Mohinder, Matt and Claire stood patiently outside a small building, not certain what was happening. Jenny had left them well guarded, four men in total, but hadn’t said why they’d come to this place. The last time she’d spoken to them at all she’d only said ‘follow me’ and that was it.

Looking around, squinting in the bright sun, Matt realized it was the first time he’d been outdoors in month. He knew it had only been six months since they’d arrived, but he’d forgotten that in most of that time he’d been locked inside. That even though life seemed on hold for them, it continued to happen in the world around them. That once again winter was approaching.

_‘How long now?’_

Matt was shaken from his thoughts by the sound of Claire’s.

He turned to look her in the eyes, not surprised to see that she was angry.

_‘How long have you been using your power?’_

“Does it matter?” he mumbled, averting his eyes.

“Yes,” she said quietly.

“Not so loud,” Mohinder cautioned, casting a glance to their nearest guard. “You’ll be heard.”

“What’s the difference,” Claire returned. “She already knows.”

“No need to give her the details then,” Mohinder said, sensing how very bad this could all be for Matt.

As he understood it, and he wasn’t sure he did understand, Matt had found a way to beat the inhibitor. That Matt had been using his powers and collecting information without Jenny, or anyone else, being aware of it.

And now... now she knew.

“I want the details,” Claire said firmly but much quieter this time.

 _‘Why didn’t you tell me?’_ she questioned in her mind.

 _‘It was too dangerous,’_ he finally acknowledged. _‘If she found out, I didn’t want her to be able to blame you in any way. I didn’t want her to pull it out of your head.’_

Claire sighed as she shut her eyes, slowly shaking her head.

_‘How did you keep it from her?’_

_‘I just never tried to read her mind. I never tried to stop her before today from getting into mine either. It was easy.’_

_‘How did she know then?’_

“I don’t know,” Matt said out loud, still talking in a whisper, “but she does. She’s got someone else… somewhere…”

“Someone who can read minds?” Claire asked, sounding surprised and momentarily forgetting her anger with him.

“No,” answered Matt. “No. If it was someone like that she’d have never kept me.”

Claire reached out and took hold of his hand, squeezing it tightly. Matt met her eyes again with his own and smiled slightly at the gesture.

“She’s coming,” Mohinder warned.

Claire instantly dropped her head and Matt’s hand in one swift motion.

From the other side of the door they heard Jenny’s voice, loud and authoritative.

“I mean it,” she was saying. “If I see so much as one foot off the ground…”

“I know, I know,” returned a familiar voice. “One foot and I’ll regret it. I’m frightened. Truly, I am.”

Jenny opened the door and stepped outside with Nathan in tow. They were all happy to see him, relieved that he was indeed still alive, but no one could mask their surprise at his condition.

He was not the same man they remembered.

Nathan was the only one of the four whose hair was still being kept extremely short. In addition, the hair he did have was almost entirely grey. That and the fact that he was much paler and much thinner than before seemed to have aged the man they knew at least ten years.

It was his attitude and the way he continued to hold himself that let them know it really was him.

Nathan, despite the changes, was still Nathan.

“Oh,” he said upon seeing the others, “are we having a reunion?”

“Shut up,” Jenny snapped, walking around him and the rest of them as if they weren’t there.

The guards motioned for them to follow, keeping their pace brisk.

 _‘Parkman,’_ Matt heard Nathan call out with his thoughts. _‘She knows.’_

Matt kept walking, only casting a single glance over his shoulder and nodding briefly; not just letting Nathan know he’d heard him, but that he knew as well.

“Are we heading anywhere in particular?” Nathan called out to Jenny who was several yards ahead of the rest of the group. “Not that I’m complaining. It’s been awhile since I’ve enjoyed your company, Ms. Yi, but it would be nice to know.”

“I told you to shut up,” she retorted without looking back.

 _‘Don’t,’_ Matt put into Nathan’s head as a warning. He’d lost a lot of his animosity toward Nathan over their stay here and really didn’t want to see anyone hurt. Matt knew Jenny was close to the brink, was extremely close with just doing away with them all.

Nathan let out a small huff of air, but seemed to take the hint.

They continued on across the courtyard until they reached what appeared to be another cellblock.

“Is he up?” Jenny asked the man standing guard just outside of the building.

“As you requested,” the man returned, unlocking the door and holding it open for her.

“Good,” she said, stopping and turning in the doorway, looking down at the four people she’d brought along. With great effort she refrained from speaking, but Matt caught a lone thought escape her head.

_‘This had better work.’_

“Come on,” she said, waving them inside ahead of her.

One by one they entered the alcove, not certain where to go next.

“He’s this way,” Jenny said, pointing down the hallway before instructing her guards to stay behind.

Apparently she was willing to go on without any further protection, something Matt had never seen her do before.

“Don’t,” Jenny said, giving Matt a hard warning similar to the one he’d just issued Nathan.

Matt refused to let on that he knew what she meant, but he, like all of them, had briefly entertained the notion of overpowering her and escaping.

“This way,” she said, leading them down the hall and up flight of steps, stopping outside a door no different than any of the others they had passed.

Surprisingly, she knocked.

Even more surprisingly, no one opened it directly. They only caught the sound of a voice calling out in the distance for them to ‘enter’.

It was like stepping into the office of a madman.

Everywhere they looked notebooks, journals, papers and pens littered shelves and floors. There were massive amounts of filing cabinets, bursting with papers. There were stack upon stack of pages bound with twine, some so high they looked as if the slightest breeze would topple them to the ground. In some places, Matt noted, the walls had even been written on.

It was bizarre.

“Hello?” Jenny called out, giving the room a contemptuous once-over.

“Hello,” a voice returned, but it was almost impossible to tell from where. “I’m coming. I’ve… I’ve just got one more… just one more page. One more and I’ll be done. Done. Finally, done.”

Not caring what Jenny would make of it, or do about it, Claire took Matt’s hand back into her own. While everyone else seemed mildly amused by the chaos, and even by the raspy voice of the man they still could not see, she found it all frightening.

Matt caught her gaze and tried to reassure her it was safe, but knew she didn’t believe it. Pressing her hand tightly, he moved slightly toward her hoping it would help.

“Done,” the voice said again, and finally they saw him.

He’d been sitting at the desk right in front of them; hidden by several reams of paper.

At first glance he appeared to be a very old man; tall and thin with an unruly amount of hair and a thick pair of glasses. But as he got closer it was apparent that he probably wasn’t even into his thirties yet. In fact, he might have just entered his twenties.

“So glad,” he said, looking at each one of them in turn. “So glad to meet you. I don’t normally… I don’t usually leave and so I don’t normally see anyone in person. But I know. I know all about… all about all of you. Each of you. All.”

“This is Anthony Banks,” Jenny said, pointing needlessly to the man before her. “He’s our pre-cog.”

“Yes,” Anthony said. “That’s me. That’s what I do. I do that. That.”

“Nice to meet you, Anthony,” Nathan said extending his hand toward the young man.

“I don’t shake,” Anthony said, casting a nervous glance not at Nathan, but at his hand. “I don’t touch people. No. I don’t like that. I don’t like to get attached. I know how it ends and I don’t like to get attached.”

“Okay then,” Nathan said, still smiling and withdrawing his arm.

“Yes,” Anthony said eagerly. “Okay. That’s okay.”

“Anthony has shown me some interesting things about you all,” Jenny said blandly.

“But you didn’t listen,” he interrupted her sharply. “I told you before you left that you couldn’t… that you shouldn’t separate them. Bad for morale. I warned you, you can’t blame me. You didn’t listen. You took them apart and I had to write and write and write a new… a whole new ending. I did. That was your mistake, not mine. Not mine.”

“Yes, well, I’m fixing it, aren’t I?” Jenny sighed, rolling her eyes and looking furious.

“Yes,” Anthony agreed.

“I’m sorry,” Mohinder piped up, “but I don’t understand. What exactly do you do?”

“Oh,” he said, sounding excited. “I forgot. I forgot you’d ask that. It’s fun to be surprised. Come on. Come here then and I’ll show you.”

Anthony rushed back to his desk, waving at them all to join him.

“But don’t touch,” he suddenly snapped, looking straight at Matt. “You can’t touch my things. These are mine. Not yours. Mine.”

“Okay,” Matt said with a short nod.

Anthony imitated the gesture before riffling through the papers on his desk.

“I write,’ he said, wheeling back around to Mohinder and holding out a single page. “I write about what I see. About people. About the people she…”

“That’s enough,” Jenny ordered.

Anthony nodded sheepishly and continued to hold the page out to Mohinder.

“You can have it,” he said, shaking it slightly.

“Thank you,” Mohinder said, quickly scanning the page and finding that it contained an exact transcript of the conversation they’d just been having.

“I write about the future,” Anthony continued. “I write all the time now. It’s not easy. The future, it won’t stay the same. People don’t realize that, even when I tell them. What I write today, may not be true tomorrow. There are so many choices. So many chances to change the way it all goes.”

“So you just keep writing it over and over again?” Claire asked, still wary of the man but also feeling some sympathy for him.

“And over and over,” he echoed. “Again and again. It’s tricky. It changes, but sometimes it can’t. Sometimes, no matter what you do… it won’t change. It’s very difficult. Extremely difficult.”

“It sounds difficult,” Nathan said with complete sincerity.

“Yes,” Anthony said, nodding his head and tapping his hand absentmindedly on the desk.

“This is how you knew,” Matt said quietly. “He wrote about it.”

Jenny turned to him and smiled.

“But it was her fault,” Antony continued to press. “I wrote it all out. I knew it. I knew. If she’d have brought you all back, if she’d have kept you all together, she’d have what she needed by now.”

“That’s enough,” Jenny said sternly. “No need to tell them anymore.”

Anthony didn’t respond. He simply sat back into his chair and began to scribble blindly onto a spare scrap of paper.

“But why bring us here?” Mohinder asked. “Why tell us at all? I’m not… I’m really not following any of this. It makes no sense.”

“I brought you all here because I had too,” Jenny said through gritted teeth. “This was the only way to get you back on track and finishing the vaccine.”

Claire was on the verge of voicing a question when she felt Matt squeeze her hand almost unbearably tight.

 _‘No,’_ she heard inside her head, much more than a request.

Claire closed her mouth with an audible ‘snap’, momentarily unable to keep herself from doing so.

Looking up at him, her vision swam as Matt slightly shook his head ‘no’.

 _‘Don’t ask that,’_ Matt told her in her own mind, back to using his normal tone. _‘He just told me to stop you.’_

_‘Who told you? What are you talking about, Matt? What’s going on?’_

“It is,” Anthony responded to Jenny, seemingly oblivious to everyone else around him. “It is the only way. Bringing them here was the only way to end this. To end it once and for all.”

Matt didn’t answer her. He only pressed her hand once more and she knew that he would explain it all later. That now was not the time.

“End it,” Anthony repeated, still scribbling away. “We can end it.”  



	5. Revelations

  
**Chapter 7: Chance**

Not long after Linderman’s little revelation Peter was returned to his room.

It was very basic room, sparsely equipped. It had four walls, a bed, a dresser, a chair and desk, and not much else.

Peter was certain he was being monitored in some way, even if he couldn’t see any cameras or observation windows. They had to be keeping an eye on him, not that it made a difference. There was nothing he could do about his current situation.

They’d taken the inhibitor off of him, but Peter could still feel them working all around him. They were in the walls, the ceiling, they were everywhere, working hard to keep him from doing anything unexpected.

And again, it made no difference.

Peter didn’t have any powers right now.

Methodically, Peter opened and shut all of the drawers in the desk and dresser to check the contents, hoping to find something useful. All they contained was a few changes of clothes, some blank paper and a few pens.

Laughing, Peter dropped the pen he’d picked up back into the drawer and pushed it shut.

Were they trying to goad him?

They had to have known, having admitted to testing Niki, that something as common as a pen or pencil, in the wrong hands could be deadly. That if he wanted to, Peter could at least try…

Maybe that’s what all that had been about after all? Linderman could have been making it up, trying to upset or enrage him; trying to trick him into activating his powers.

Then again, maybe they’d never tested Niki. Maybe it was just a pen, not some strange test; some battle of wills.

Maybe this place was starting to get to him.

Sighing, Peter sat down on the bed and put his head into his hands.

He didn’t want to think about it all, but there was nothing else for him to do.

Everything Linderman had said kept replaying again and again in his mind.

There was no doubt that some of it was probably true; that his parents had been involved to some degree. The specifics of their involvement he never wanted to know. It was bad enough accepting that small bit. If he found out any more…

And Nathan.

Everyone had said he was a fool for thinking the best of him, but how could he not? Nathan was his brother. No matter what Linderman said, no matter who his biological parents did turn out to be, Nathan was his brother. He’d deserved his confidence. But now? Now Peter wasn’t sure he could ever trust him again.

And again, it seemed like a moot point.

Would he ever even get the chance to trust him again?

Trying hard to shake that rather disturbing thought from his head, Peter tried to turn his attention to something else and only failed, because no sooner than he thought of Nathan did Claire come to mind.

It was so complicated.

As with Nathan, he couldn’t change how he felt about her. Knowing what he did now, if it was even true, certainly gave him pause, but it was too late. He loved Claire. He was in love with her and worried, extremely worried about what might happen to her in this whole situation.

That if she found out…

Standing abruptly, Peter began to pace the room in a near maniacal fashion.

One thing, the one thing Peter was completely sure of was that Nathan hadn’t known Claire was his daughter. He couldn’t have known. Nathan might have chosen to keep certain things from Peter, to avoid telling him about Primatech and the experiments and their own parents association with men like Linderman, but he would have told him about Claire.

Being a father had been too important to Nathan for him not to have jumped at a second chance.

And Nathan, had he known himself that Claire was his daughter, would have treated her far differently.

It was something he couldn’t have hidden from Peter if he’d tried.

And it was a relief.

They might be better off not knowing.

Claire and Nathan had never really gotten along. Part of that, Peter knew, was because of Matt. Matt had loathed Nathan, with good reason, and Claire had adopted the same attitude.

If they ever did find out…

Peter stopped pacing and shook his head, mentally kicking himself.

They’d never find out. They’d never find out because Peter would never get the chance to tell them. He was never going to get out of here. And, even if he did, he had no idea where they were anymore.

Peter didn’t even know if any of them were still alive.

Linderman was careful never to say one way or another of what had become of his friends.

Claire, he realized, must still be alive. He had to keep believing that, even as the doubt crept in, as he wondered how invincible she really could be. The doubt that nagged at him now, asking why if Claire had survived was Linderman so set on Peter duplicating her power.

Sitting back down on the bed, Peter refused to think about it any longer. It was doing no good. All he could do, the best he could do, was keep his ears and eyes open and hope for an opportunity to come his way.

A chance.

All he needed was one chance and a little bit of luck, and maybe he wouldn’t be forced to die in this dungeon.

One chance.

****

“It doesn’t look bad,” Micah commented with a shrug.

“Does it look natural?” Lauren asked tentatively, brushing her hair behind her ears.

“No,” D.L. answered truthfully, with a bit of a laugh. “But it doesn’t look like you’re trying too hard either, which is more important. Lots of women dye their hair. You just need to act like you want it that way.”

“It’s so blond though,” Lauren said, checking her reflection once more with a grimace. “I’ve never been blond.”

“Blond was all we could find,” D.L. said, now laughing outright.

D.L. had gone on a mini-scouting mission not long after their initial talk and picked up a few items for the operation. They’d even risked breaking into the farmhouse for the occasion to use a real sink and bathroom.

“Besides,” Micah added, “the bigger the change the better. If they do know anything about you it’s probably just a basic description. They’ll be expecting a brunette with long hair, not a blond with short hair.”

Lauren frowned again, running a hand through her now extremely short hair. The cutting had been worse than the dyeing.

“They’ll still know her power,” Hiro added from the other side of the room, still unhappy with the latest development. “They were keeping records on all of us at the colony; they’ll know what she can do. And as soon as they find that out…”

“It will still buy us some time,” Lauren returned, meeting his eyes in the mirror.

“Let’s go over it again,” D.L. interjected, hoping to avoid another fight. “What’s your story?”

“I’m Lori Thompsen,” Lauren began, turning around to face D.L. head on. “I was born in Henderson, Nevada, where I also grew up. I was a student at the University of Nevada when the incident occurred. Since then I’ve survived mostly on my own in Colorado. I heard about the Republic and came south thinking there would be safety in numbers.”

“And what if they ask for details?” Hiro asked, quite serious.

“It’s close enough to my own life where it won’t be too hard to embellish,” answered Lauren. She didn’t want to admit it, but Hiro was right and he was making her nervous.

There were a lot of things that could give her away, not the least of them the fact that she was still uneasy around strangers and a terrible liar.

“If they ask you about your powers?” he continued to prod, coming closer now and hoping she’d see reason.

“I’ll tell them that I create energy.”

“What if they want a demonstration?”

D.L., having initially been as reluctant as Hiro was still in agreeing to this plan, finally felt as if they’d hit a legitimate snag. They could ask that and if Lauren couldn’t produce something, some kind of proof other than her very genetic makeup that what she said was true, there could be real problems.

But Lauren didn’t look phased by the question at all. Instead she held out her hand, palm up, and created a small, spherical field that floated in the air.

Of course D.L., Micah and Hiro all knew what it really was. That the orb suspended before them wasn’t energy exactly, just a modification of the force fields Lauren typically created.

Hiro nodded briskly but didn’t look happy or convinced.

“Okay,” D.L. continued. “That’s good. That’s real good. I think that’s everything.”

“No,” Hiro said sharply, walking over to join them. “It’s not. What about the inhibitors?”

“That’s why we’re doing this,” Lauren returned. “It’s the only way in.”

“Yes,” Hiro agreed. “It is the only way in, but it still does not mean you can get out. What if they are inside as well? What if you are completely powerless, you and Peter both? They have to have a way to keep him in line. Him and Sylar. Either one of them could have escaped on their own if not for some reason. Something in there has to be holding them in place.”

For the first time Lauren looked momentarily shaken, but she quickly shrugged it off.

“That may be true, but we won’t know until we see for ourselves.”

“Lauren,” Hiro sighed, shaking his head in complete disbelief.

She was determined to do this, he knew, but he didn’t know she was this determined.

“I have thought about this a lot,” Lauren argued. “Trust me, I’m not just taking a blind leap here. Even if there are inhibitors in place, they can be beaten. They aren’t foolproof. Your friend, Matt, the one that was here… he beat his. He had moments where…”

“But if there was a way around it, why haven’t we been able to do it yet?” D.L. asked. “Why hasn’t Peter?”

“Because, he doesn’t have a reason to.”

Micah nodded his head slowly, but the other two men simply looked confused.

“Dad,” Micah said after a pause. “Think about it. Matt wasn’t able to fight that inhibitor in his head until he wanted to fight it. He had to try, but he also needed a reason to try.”

“How many talks have you two had about this?” D.L. asked, looking slightly taken aback from Micah to Lauren.

“You guys are gone every night,” Micah replied.

“But Matt had to have it removed,” Hiro still argued. They’d discussed the events of that night so many times that each of them knew the details by heart. “D.L. took it out for him. Peter wouldn’t be able to do that.”

“Only because it was implanted,” Lauren said. “They might not have done that to Peter yet.”

“Why would they wait?” Hiro quickly returned.

“Because, they haven’t gotten his power yet,” Micah answered. “They duplicated Matt’s and then put in the implant to keep him from using it.”

“Matt and Audrey’s recollection of what happened can’t be completely trusted,” D.L. said. “You know that.”

“But they did get some of it right,” Lauren injected. “They knew about the stations, the marks, how the cities work. Some of it was real. Some of what they said was real.”

D.L. only nodded, still uncertain.

“The inhibitors they implant have to be the final step,” Micah said fiercely, knowing he was right.

“And Peter might have already reached that step,” Hiro said with a note of finality.

“No,” Lauren said, shaking her head brutally. “No. That hasn’t… they haven’t done it yet. If they had…”

And not wanting to admit it, Hiro did believe her. He knew, like Lauren did, that if the Primatech had gotten at Peter’s power, things would have already changed drastically around them.

If Primatech had found a way to absorb and mimic powers the way Peter could there was no telling what they would do or how strong they’d become.

Peter possessed his power for a good reason. He was the only one capable of it. The only person Hiro knew that could have a power like that and not let it control him. And even then, even with all of Peter’s good intentions, there had been moments. During each of his encounters with Sylar, Peter had lost a piece of himself to it. He’d struggled valiantly to keep it in check, but had never quite succeeded. But he had never succumbed either. He seemed to know that if he didn’t try to keep it in check he was at risk of becoming what he despised.

Peter had deep reservations about his own power, reservations that held him back from using it fully.

And that’s why Lauren had to go in. It was a risk; a chance that had to be taken. It was why they’d come here in the first place.

Power was a mighty and awful thing that should be handled with caution and care. Each of them understood that. Each of them had accepted it.

Primatech had no such reservations.  



	6. Revelations

  
**Chapter 8: Revisions**

“This is incredible,” Mohinder said, his eyes never leaving the pages before him. “Absolutely incredible. I’ve never heard of anything like this. He has to be the only pre-cog with this broad of a scope.”

Jenny gave him a stiff smile, continuing to gaze at the group gathered round the table.

They were back in one of her conference rooms, a room Matt knew well. It was typically where he and Jenny spent a lot of time alone, but not today. Today they were all there; all going through the massive amounts of writings Anthony had created for Jenny’s benefit.

“So you give him a picture or a name and…”

“It’s not that easy,” Jenny interrupted Mohinder before he could finish. “You have to have a connection to the person. A real one. You have to know something about them.”

Matt said nothing, just looked down at the paper in his hand and nodded slightly as he recognized his own name written several times upon it. Jenny certainly knew enough about him to feed to Anthony.

He didn’t bother to read it; it wasn’t worth the effort it would take on his part. Jenny wouldn’t show them anything really important, Matt was positive of that. There was no point. Besides, with everyone else in the room reading to themselves, Matt could pretty much hear the general point of it all.

“Wow,” Nathan said, dropping his paper as he threw back his head and rubbed his eyes. “That’s quite a forecast. How long have you known?”

“He wrote this nearly a year ago,” Jenny answered. “That’s when I first started making plans.”

“If you’ve known that long,” Matt began, “how come you’re still trying to figure out exactly what they did to me? If this is the end result of the plague, if this future is it, why not…”

“Because I didn’t know at first you were the source,” Jenny interrupted.

“But you did know I was at Primatech,” Matt returned.

Jenny glared at him momentarily before getting to her feet and pacing around the room.

“Yes,” she finally admitted. “I did. They’d told me so themselves. They thought I’d be interested, as close as we are. They thought I’d find it amusing.”

“I’m sure you did,” Matt said flatly.

“Yes, actually,” said Jenny with a smile. “They did not, however, tell me that they were implanting a virus in you or that this virus was the prototype to one they hoped would wipe out any one with an active power. Despite their numerous errors, they are not stupid.”

“So you’d asked Anthony, to what exactly?” Nathan asked, turning slightly in his seat to look into Jenny’s eyes. “Write about your future? See what was in store for you?”

“Yes.”

“And you got this?” Nathan continued. “You asked for your future and got the end of the world.”

“I asked him to show me specifically when I would meet Matt again,” Jenny clarified, sounding strained and almost embarrassed. “When he could not do that, I asked him why and that is when he started to write this up.”

Matt looked at the paper he’d previously been ignoring with renewed interest.

“So this is my death,” he said quietly, catching Claire’s attention.

“You’ve done it then,” Mohinder said. “According to this future, Matt should have died six months ago. He should have died the night the colony was raided. How did you alter it?”

“I started by sending Franco back,” Jenny answered. “That alone changed a lot of things, but not the plague. It still happens, only now it doesn’t begin with Matt; it begins with some girl named Lori who was stupid enough to get caught by Primatech and used as a guinea pig.”

“How do you know that?” Nathan asked.

“Because,” Jenny said bitterly, “your brother refuses to cure her. First it’s the girl, than your boogeyman Mr. Sylar, and then Peter the Great, himself. They become the first to go. It escalates from there, spreading from city to city until eventually…”

“Peter?” Claire said. “He’s there? Primatech has him?”

Jenny nodded briskly in reply.

“How did you get Antony to write about Peter?” Mohinder asked.

“I guess I just know enough about him,” Jenny answered vaguely.

“But Claire would survive it,” Nathan said, sounding confused. “If the whole point of abducting Claire was to take the cure out of circulation, to ensure that the creators themselves were not affected, why would they release it without first ensuring that that was done?”

“You seem to know an awful lot about the plan,” Jenny returned, eyebrow raised.

“Yes, well…” Nathan stammered. “It was why they wanted her before, I’d assume it was why they still want her.”

“It is,” Jenny answered.

“So?” Mohinder prodded. “Why would they risk it? Why start it while Claire…”

“Are none of you actually reading the papers before you?” Jenny interrupted harshly. “They start because by then she’s already dead.”

All three men flipped through the pages searching for that point in Anthony’s rough draft of the future. Claire moved through her own stack of papers as well, not nearly as eager as the rest.

“You,” Nathan said, having found it first. “You.”

“You’re surprised?” Jenny asked.

“Why would you do that?” Mohinder asked, obviously surprised. “If Claire is the only one that could save you… why?”

“Keep reading.”

Matt couldn’t do it. No matter how he tried to calm himself down, no matter how hard he tried to reign in his nervous energy, he couldn’t concentrate hard enough to make anything meaningful out of the words before him. Again, there were words he recognized like his own name, even Claire’s, but everything else just looked garbled.

Looking around the table he saw Mohinder, Nathan and Claire all looking lost in thought, but those thoughts could not be heard in his head. Jenny, despite the flaw in her inhibitors, had not removed them from either Nathan or Matt. They were too good of a punishment to abandon, and right now it was doing its job well. Matt was too keyed up to hear anything. He was too worried about Claire to concentrate.

“What’s wrong, Matt?” Jenny asked, seeing he was the only one not reading. “Having a hard time making it out? Maybe Claire will fill you in.”

Matt turned instantly to Claire who was sitting at his side. She was wide-eyed and pale, shaking her head slightly indicating she would not be repeating what she read to anyone.

“But this… this isn’t… this hasn’t happened either,” Mohinder finally said, the first to find his voice. “This…”

“I know,” Jenny said, her smile deflating as she sat back down in her chair at the head of the table. “I stopped it.”

“You stopped yourself,” Nathan muttered under his breath, still looking at the page he was holding as if it was some kind of ghastly deformity.

“So now what?” Claire asked tentatively. “I can see why knowing the future can be… I can see why you’d want to know… How do we change it? How do you know what to do to change it? This only tells us what’s going to happen. It doesn’t tell us how to stop it.”

“One step at a time,” Jenny answered. “You do it one step at a time. I sent Franco up to the colony and immediately Anthony began rewriting Matt’s future. I began planning my assault and again, the future was rewritten. That was the one. That was the one…”

Jenny trailed off uncharacteristically, looking up at the ceiling and shaking her head.

“He said you changed it,” Nathan said after a long pause.

“Yes,” admitted Jenny. “I did. I didn’t follow it exactly and… Well, now we can change it again.”

Matt tried to focus in once more on her thoughts, but couldn’t. He desperately wanted to know what she’d done that had thrown everything off again, but either Jenny had learned to keep him out or he still was too upset to throw off the inhibitor.

“So, as of right now,” Nathan said, “how does it end?”

“I don’t know yet,” Jenny answered. “I read… I read that ending last night. And today, when I saw it coming true I honestly didn’t know what to do next.”

“So you took us to Anthony,” Mohinder provided.

“Yes.”

“But he hasn’t had time to draft up anything new,” Nathan continued. “He hasn’t had time to write up a complete ending so you’re just guessing? Waiting? What?”

“Until he has something new,” Jenny said, sounding pained, “you will all stay in new quarters. Together. Initially you were to be kept together, so we’ll go back to that plan. I just… I ask, for all of our sakes, that you don’t do anything stupid. That you don’t try anything. It’s not just me… I’m sure if it was only me that was to die, you wouldn’t care, but that’s not the case. This plague is real. It will kill every single person like us. And if that isn’t enough, think of yourselves. You’ll die too. One way or another.”

Everyone remained quiet until she’d left shortly after her little speech. Each of them choosing to say nothing until they were escorted to their new quarters which consisted of two bedrooms, a common room and a private bath. It was still locked and guarded, but it was a relief to be all together again.

“Is this real?” Mohinder asked Matt as soon as the door was shut on them.

“If it isn’t she went through an awful lot of trouble to make us believe it is,” Nathan answered before Matt had the chance, flopping down onto the couch and shutting his eyes to the harsh fluorescent lights above him.

“Well?” Mohinder asked, still focusing on Matt.

“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully, sitting down in the nearest chair. “I couldn’t hear anything. I was too… I don’t know. I think she’s telling the truth but I don’t have anything to base it off of.”

“She was certainly scared,” Claire added, taking the chair next to Matt’s.

“I don’t see why,” Nathan retorted. “I didn’t see anything in there about her getting disemboweled.”

“What?” Matt nearly yelled. “Who gets disemboweled?”

“No one,” Claire said, throwing Nathan a dirty look. “He’s making that up.”

Nathan sat up straight, opening his eyes as he smirked.

“It was bad enough without you adding to it,” Mohinder said as he leaned back against the wall.

“Lighten up,” Nathan said, growing restless. “It didn’t happen.”

“That doesn’t mean it won’t,” Mohinder said tersely.

“What exactly did everyone read?” Matt finally had to ask.

“Nothing,” Claire said staring down first Mohinder and then Nathan.

“It was obviously something,” Matt continued.

“Really, Matt,” Mohinder said, trying to calm him down. “You’re better off not…”

“Tell me,” he insisted.

“Don’t,” Claire said firmly.

“You probably should,” Nathan added. “Just in case. If you don’t…”

Without thinking, without realizing what he was really doing, Matt turned to Mohinder and pushed the command to ‘talk’ into his head. It was an instinctive act driven by his need to know what everyone was so afraid of. To get an answer he desperately wanted that no one seemed willing to provide.

“You did it,” Mohinder blurted out, speaking automatically without stopping. “In the papers, you did it this morning. Jenny became enraged after you initially pushed her out of your head. When she did get back inside she had you hallucinating and you did it. You killed Claire. After that, she let you kill yourself.”

As soon as he’d finished, Mohinder shook his head as if he was coming out of a daze.

“Matt,” Claire started to say, but as soon as she reached out and touched his arm he got to his feet and shrugged her off. He headed directly for the closest bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

“I told you not to tell him,” Claire said, wheeling on Mohinder.

“I don’t… I don’t know why I did,” he admitted. “I wasn’t going to, Claire. Honestly. I… I think he made me.”

“He wouldn’t do that,” Claire said half-heartedly, remembering too well the order he’d issued in her head earlier that day which she had felt compelled to obey.

“Maybe not on purpose,” Nathan added. “But hasn’t he been spending a lot of quality time with Ms. Yi? Alone. I’m sure she’s taught him a thing or two about persuasion.”

Claire stared at Nathan, not liking all of the connotations his words implied.

“I really didn’t want to do it, Claire,” Mohinder repeated as he sat down in Matt’s empty place.

Claire stood up, nodding curtly before heading toward the room Matt had entered.

“Leave him,” Nathan advised as Claire placed her hand on the doorknob. “He’ll be fine. Probably just need a few minutes alone.”

Claire fought back a bitter reply, opening the door instead to go and join Matt.  



	7. Revelations

  
**Chapter 9: Could**

Once the door was shut, Claire hesitated. There was hardly any light, owing largely to the fact that none of the rooms had windows, but she could still make him out in the dark as he sat on the floor in the corner.

“Matt,” she said tentatively, taking a few steps in his direction.

“Leave me alone.”

“I won’t do that,” Claire returned, crossing now with more confidence and taking a seat at his side. “You know I won’t.”

“Claire…”

“It didn’t happen,” she said firmly, interrupting what was bound to be either an apology or some other act of attribution.

“It could have.”

“We don’t even know if it’s true,” Claire tried to argue.

“It is,” Matt said, finally lifting his head out of his hands.

“You can’t be sure.”

“I can,” Matt argued. “I can because… because she knows me. That’s exactly how… You’re all I have left, Claire. You’re the only one… And she knows that. She knows what it would do to me if…”

“I know you’d never hurt me.”

“She makes me think that I can. That I have. She makes me believe that there are things…”

“It isn’t real,” Claire interrupted in a low, fierce whisper as she clasped his hands in hers. It was the first time he’d ever mentioned to what had been happening to him for the last six months he’d spent under Jenny’s thumb. “I know you, Matt. I know you better than anyone can. Better than she ever will. You’re not a bad person. You’re not evil. You’d never hurt or…”

Matt jerked his hands free from her grasp and quickly got to his feet, turning away from her and rubbing his hands across his face.

Claire stood as well; staring at him, willing to turn around again and just tell her. He had to realize by now how she felt about him. That there was nothing he could say or do that would forfeit her good opinion of him. She could forgive him anything but his silence.

“This isn’t something I want to talk about,” Matt said, his voice a harsh whisper.

“You can tell me anything,” she said, speaking softly.

“No, I can’t.”

“Yes,” Claire urged, pulling pointlessly on his arm and trying to make him face her. “You can, Matt. There’s nothing she can make you do that will change who you are on the inside.”

“What if she can?” he asked, finally facing her as he put his hands on her shoulders. “What if she can change the way I think and act and who I am? What if she gets so far into my head that I forget about everything I… everyone…”

Matt trailed off, once again choosing silence. Dropping his hands to his sides and his chin to his chest.

“Is that what she’s doing?” Claire asked after a long pause.

“I don’t know what she’s doing to me,” Matt admitted. “I try not to think about it. I try not to remember. I can’t remember.”

“Then you don’t know,” Claire said, taking hold of his hands as she continued to grasp blindly at anything she could to get through to him. “You don’t know if she’s only making you think these things or if they’re real. She’s messing with your mind, Matt. She wants you to think you are capable of these things. That you’re just like her. But, you’re not. Matt, I know you’re not. She can’t make you be like her. She’s trying to manipulate you, to control you, but I know that whatever she does to you, whatever she puts into your head, she can’t change you. She can’t…”

“I killed Jon Franco.”

He’d looked her right in the eyes as he’d said it, and she knew it wasn’t a lie. Claire looked away first, dropping her gaze to the floor as Matt pulled free once again, sitting heavily on the bed.

For several minutes there was complete silence between them.

“What did she do to make you…” Claire finally began, trying hard to maintain her composure. “How did she…”

“She didn’t make me,” Matt said quietly. “She didn’t have to make me. I wanted to kill him. I wanted him dead after what he’d done.”

Claire nodded, taking a seat beside him.

She understood why. She didn’t like it, she couldn’t condone it, but Claire did understand. Franco had been spying on them all for Jenny, had betrayed them in the worst way. And, he’d killed Audrey. Claire knew that that alone was reason enough for Matt to want him dead, and to want to be the one to do it. She wasn’t sure she would do the same in his situation, but when she thought about her own feelings – when she considered what it would be like if Franco had killed either Peter or Matt -- she understood.

Slowly Claire worked her arms around his chest, pulling him closer in an effort to make him understand that she didn’t hate him for it. That she still cared and loved him the way she always would; that nothing could ever harm that.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” she asked as she felt him finally relax a little in her arms.

“Because I’m ashamed of myself. I’m ashamed of what I’m becoming. Of the things I’ve done.”

“Matt…”

“Don’t tell me I haven’t changed,” he interrupted, but his words weren’t harsh and he’d made no attempt to move away. “I know I have.”

“Not to me you haven’t.”

“I could have killed you today.”

“It didn’t happen,” she returned.

“That’s not the point,” Matt argued, finally moving back and looking her in the eyes. “It could have.”

“I’m not going to win here, am I?” Claire said with a faint laugh. A few tears slid down her face as she placed her hands on either side of his head to keep him from looking away. “You’re determined to think the worst of yourself when all I want to do is think the best.”

“Stop.”

“I will when you realize it didn’t happen. It didn’t and it won’t,” Claire argued. “Weren’t you paying attention to Anthony today? He said it. It changes all the time. The future is always changing. If you want to believe that what he wrote was true, then you have to believe what he said was true also.”

“He also said sometimes it won’t.”

Claire paused.

For a long time, neither of them spoke. Each waiting for some thing without honestly knowing what that thing was. They just stared into one another’s eyes.

“Yeah,” Claire finally said, the first to look away; to pull away. “I guess some things won’t.”

****

“Maybe we should knock,” Nathan suggested, giving the door a hard glare.

“Why?” Mohinder asked as he sat down at the table.

“Because,” Nathan started, coming over and sitting down opposite him. “Well, because of lunch. They should eat, right?”

“I’m sure they’re fine,” Mohinder answered, pouring himself a glass of water.

Nathan nodded in agreement, but continued to glance at the door every few minutes or so.

“Are they always like that?” Nathan finally had to ask.

“Like what?”

“That,” Nathan said, indicating the door again. “Are they always going off together? Alone?”

Mohinder stared at the door for a minute before shrugging and turning his attention back to his meal.

“Not really,” he finally answered. “We haven’t spent a lot of time together without a guard or some other kind of surveillance. We’re probably under surveillance now. Sometimes they’ll talk together, but none of us have had much privacy.”

For a few minutes Mohinder thought Nathan had dropped the subject, until the other man put down his fork and let out a huff of air.

“It’s inappropriate.”

“What is?” Mohinder asked, opting to play dumb and hoping Nathan was now ranting about something else.

“That,” Nathan spat out. “Them. Together. It’s inappropriate.”

“There’s nothing going on,” Mohinder tried saying to placate him, but Nathan wasn’t really listening.

“He’s old enough to be her father.”

“Really, Nathan, nothing is happening.”

“And isn’t she in love with Peter?” Nathan questioned. “She’s supposed to be in love with him, not Parkman. I don’t get it. It don’t understand this at all.”

“Claire is in love with Peter,” Mohinder sighed, realizing he wasn’t going to get any peace until Nathan had had his say. “She talks about him all the time. She misses him. Trust me, it’s real. I practically had a front row seat to their courtship.”

“But now that he’s not here…”

“Claire and Matt are close,” Mohinder interrupted.

“Too close.”

“You just don’t realize, do you?” Mohinder asked, exasperated by his attitude. “Some of us didn’t have anyone else to rely on, to lean on. All these years, those first few especially were difficult for everyone. We had to make new connections, new families out of those that remained. We weren’t all as fortunate as you were to have someone we knew and cared for from before all of this make it through.”

Nathan had nothing to say in return, only looked down at his plate, a bit ashamed of himself.

“Whatever is or is not happening behind that door,” Mohinder continued, suddenly angry by the whole thing, “is not our business. And it is certainly not your place to judge whether or not it’s appropriate.”

“My mistake,” Nathan said briskly, still looking down.

“You can’t know,” Mohinder went on, finally venting years of frustration. Standing up and practically yelling now. “The terror of those years. The fear. The worry. The helplessness of it all. There was no telling who you could really trust; who wouldn’t turn you in if given the chance. They were lucky to have one another to lean on. It was the only way any one could survive.”

“And who did you have?” asked Nathan quietly, finally lifting his eyes back to the other man.

For a moment all Mohinder did was glare down at him.

Nathan had to know. All those years of surveillance, he just had to. Mohinder had known that during his time in D.C., just after the event in New York, he’d been closely watched. That every move he’d made was documented in some fashion. That nothing had escaped the Order’s attention; that nothing had escaped Nathan’s attention.

He hadn’t changed, not really. Nathan still knew all of his former opponents’ weaknesses and still knew that striking first wasn’t as important as where the shot was aimed.

And Nathan had good aim.

“Audrey,” Mohinder finally said through gritted teeth. “I had Audrey.”  



	8. Revelations

  
**Chapter 10: Involved**

“Hello,” Jenny called out as she entered the dusty office where Anthony, her official scribe, resided.

She hated coming in here. Jenny hated it in almost every way imaginable, but it was necessary. She had to keep a watch on him in the same way she had to keep a watch on Matt and all of the others. It was part of the job.

“Hello,” she repeated, walking briskly toward his desk in the dead center of the room.

“I’m almost done,” Anthony said, not even looking up from his writing. “Almost. Just one minute. One. One and it will be finished. The end. The real end.”

“Is this one better than the last?” Jenny asked sharply.

“I don’t know yet,” Anthony answered, his pen still flying across the page. “I haven’t read it yet.”

She sighed, looking around the room for something to occupy her attention while she waited.

“Here,” he said, pulling together numerous pages and shuffling them in order. “Here it is. It’s done. Done. I’ve finished.”

Jenny took them without a word of thanks and immediately riffled through to the end, reading the contents with a smile.

“Is it good?”

“So far,” Jenny answered.

“So…” Anthony stammered, gazing up at her with an almost painful expression. “Can I rest now? Can I sleep? I haven’t in days. It’s been days. I’ve counted. If it’s done I can, right? You said if it was the right ending I could rest.”

Jenny continued to scan the pages to ensure it was all intact. Sometimes the little freak left a page or two out by mistake. Today, however, it looked as if he’d gotten it right.

“Yes,” she finally said. “I think so. You’ve earned a nap. But not a long one. I may need you to write up something new for me soon.”

“Thank you. Thank you. Really. A rest, it’s all I need. A few hours and I’ll be back writing more than before. Whatever you ask. Whatever you want.”

Jenny gave him a small, condescending smile, before turning to go.

Anthony watched her leave, sitting back and sighing in his chair, finally at ease; waiting with no plans of resting at the moment.

There was still too much left to write.

****

They had dropped her off and returned to their hideout as quickly as possible. They knew they had plenty of time to make it back and begin monitoring Primatech’s headquarters, but Hiro had been insistent that they hurry. Hiro wanted to be absolutely certain that they saw Lauren being brought in, and as luck would have it, they did.

It was no more than a quick glimpse, a brief flicker of bottle-blond hair against the autumn night sky, but they’d all three seen her and were convinced.

So far things were going well. As well as this plan could.

Now came the hard part.

Now they waited.

****

It had been terrifying.

No matter how many times Lauren had gone over what might happen, what probably would happen once she was in the Republic’s custody, the actual event had been terrifying.

She’d done exactly as they’d rehearsed. Kept her mind as clear as possible, focusing only on her ‘official’ reason for being there. They knew that Primatech had duplicated Matt’s power, were using it as some sort of perverse lie detector, but they weren’t positive how powerful a tool it was.

Lauren had never spent a lot of time with Matt. She’d barely even met him, so she had no real idea what he could do or how well. It didn’t really matter. There was one thing they all agreed on; that no matter what Matt could do, it was doubtful a machine could do it any better. That was just not how any of their powers worked. They needed emotion to really get a good result.

Still, Lauren had to be very careful. But, given everything that could have gone wrong and didn’t, she felt relieved.

They’d tested and tagged her straight away before rushing her off toward the capital, toward the headquarters building they knew housed all of Primatech’s highest priority experiments.

The same building that hopefully held Peter.

Once inside it was another whirlwind of activity. They first ran her through a decontamination shower, took even more blood, shot x-rays, and performed a CATSCAN. It was an intense rush and Lauren got the feeling they hadn’t had anyone new to experiment on in quite some time.

Finally she was strapped down into a chair and left alone for nearly an hour in a small, padded room with a single observation window.

When the door did at last reopen two men entered the room and glowered down at her.

Lauren felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach. This couldn’t be good. It just couldn’t be good at all.

She hadn’t expected this.

“So,” the taller of the two said, stepping closer and bending at the waist so that he could look her straight in the eye, “it says here you’ve come from Colorado. Interesting.”

“Yes,” she managed, looking down at her lap. “I have. I was living there alone and heard…”

“And your name was what again?” the man asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“Lori. Lori Thompsen.”

The blond man stood up straight again, turning slightly to look at his colleague.

“Well,” he finally said to the other man. “What do you think? Is she one of yours, Peter?”

****

“Peter,” Linderman said, rising this time to greet him as if he was an old friend, “thank you for coming.”

“I didn’t realize I had a choice,” Peter returned, opting to stand even after a chair was offered to him.

“One always has a choice,” Linderman returned, leaning back against his desk as he spoke; a gesture Peter now could place. It was uncanny. It was almost exactly the same posture Nathan assumed when he wanted to appear relaxed, but not overly so. Nathan did it when he wanted to put others at ease; when he wanted a favor.

“What do you want?”

“I hope you are being treated well,” Linderman continued, ignoring Peter’s question. “Is there anything you need? Anything you require?”

“Just to know why you’ve dragged me back up here,” Peter answered firmly.

Linderman cleared his throat as he stood tall, evidently tired of playing nice and ready to try a direct approach.

“I’m in need of your assistance.”

“I’ve already told you that I won’t…”

“This won’t require you to use your powers,” Linderman interrupted.

“Then what do you want?”

“We’ve picked up a new subject,” the older man answered. “A woman. A young woman.”

Peter held his tongue, not wanting to ask anything that might give away his real interest in this mystery person.

“We think she is from your colony.”

“The colony survived?” Peter asked, surprised. He’d been told nothing about it one way or another.

“Some did.”

“So what do you want me to do?” Peter asked. “Identify her?”

“Yes, that’s it exactly.”

“Why would I do that?” Peter continued to question. “Why would I tell you anything about any one of my friends? What would it even matter if she is from the colony? One person is hardly a threat to your organization. Especially not one person you already have under your control.”

“You won’t help us?”

“No,” said Peter flatly.

“Fine,” Linderman returned, walking over to his desk and pushing the intercom button once. Immediately after a tall, blond man with sharp features and thinning hair came walking briskly into the room.

“Yes, Mr. Linderman?” he asked.

“Dr. Hahn,” Linderman said, potentially ignoring Peter’s presence in the room. “Mr. Petrelli has decided not to cooperate. You have permission to terminate the subject.”

“Yes, sir,” Dr. Hahn said with a twisted smile.

“What?” Peter snapped. “You can’t be serious. You’re just going to kill this woman just like that? Without even knowing if… without knowing anything at all?”

“What else can we do,” Linderman returned, “you refuse to help.”

“That’s no reason to kill her.”

“She’s been deceptive,” Hahn provided. “The tests prove it. She is lying about something to us.”

“So she has to die because of it?”

“She doesn’t have to die, Peter,” Linderman interjected. “She is going to die because you will not oblige us.”

Peter turned his back on the two men, shaking his head in disbelief.

This was how it started. This would be the beginning of his involvement. Absently he wondered if this is how it happened to Nathan as well; to his parents. If they had also been forced to make some sick choice in this same fashion.

Even if he refused today, tomorrow there would be some new test. Tomorrow it could be two innocent lives, or three, or worse.

He was afraid to begin; afraid to say yes and not willing to say no. He couldn’t let someone be killed because of this. It was too petty. It was too insane.

But what if it was someone from the colony? What would he say or do? What would they do to her if they found out?

“Peter,” Linderman gently chided. “Have you changed your mind yet?”

Sighing, Peter turned to face him once again.

“Okay,” he said, resigned to his fate. “I’ll do it, but only if you promise me not to...”

Peter stopped, realizing he had no room to negotiation. Linderman didn’t have to give him an inch and he knew it.

“Dr. Hahn will accompany you,” Linderman said, showing them both to the door with a smile.

Hahn walked very quickly, evidently unafraid of Peter in the way others around them were. Every time they’d approach someone in the hall, the person always ended up giving Peter a double-take before practically leaping aside.

In another life, another time, Peter might have found it amusing.

“Here we are,” Hahn said as they approached a cell similar to the one Peter had seen earlier on his little tour with Linderman. “Shall we begin?”

Peter nodded curtly and as soon as the door opened, he knew.

Linderman and Hahn didn’t just suspect this was a colony member, they knew it was. Hahn even gave him an obnoxious wink, forcing Peter to fight back the urge to rip the other man apart.

Lauren had done a decent job disguising herself, but Peter still had no trouble recognizing her immediately. And as awful as it felt seeing her tied up and prisoner the way she was before him, he could tell she was horrified to see him.

She had to know that the gig was up.

“So,” Dr. Hahn said, stepping closer and bending at the waist so that he could look her straight in the eye, “it says here you’ve come from Colorado. Interesting.”

“Yes,” she managed, looking down at her lap. “I have. I was living there alone and heard…”

“And your name was what again?”

“Lori. Lori Thompsen.”

He stood up straight again and looked at Peter with a sick smirk.

“Well,” he finally said to him. “What do you think? Is she one of yours, Peter?”

Peter didn’t know what to do. Did they really not know who she was? If Peter lied and said it wasn’t her and they did, they were both screwed. If he told the truth and said it was, same thing.

It was a real mess.

“Peter?” Hahn repeated, positively staring at him now.

Figuring if he was going to do this, he might as well do it right, Peter took a few steps closer and bent down similar to the fashion Hahn had done to peer into her face.

“I don’t know her,” he finally said with a shrug as he stood back up.

“You don’t,” Hahn said flatly.

“No,” Peter denied. “There weren’t a lot of girls her age in the colony.”

“That’s right,” Hahn said, and to Peter’s horror he produced a file. “There weren’t. In fact, there were only two women of about this young lady’s age who had powers. One, who we both can agree, she is not. The other…”

Hahn pointed to a name, one of few that were highlighted, on what appeared to be a master list of all the colony members.

Peter had just enough time to not only read ‘Lauren Taylor’ but also ‘Micah Sanders’ and ‘Mohinder Suresh’.

“What is this of?” Peter asked, waving a hand at the list and hoping to get another look.

“It is of those assumed alive,” the doctor said, snapping the file shut.

“And you think that this woman is…”

“Lauren Taylor,” Hahn provided.

“Are you Lauren Taylor?” Peter asked her directly.

“No,” she denied, quickly and adamantly. “I don’t know what you’re even talking about. What colony? What… I told you, I came here from Colorado. Alone. I’ve been alone.”

“You are going to continue this little charade?” Hahn asked, turning from one to the other.

“What charade? I’m not…”

Lauren didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence; Hahn had slapped her hard across the face midway through it and Peter snapped.

In an instant Peter had Hahn pinned to the wall with one hand wrapped tightly around the good doctor’s throat.

“Don’t do that again,” Peter said quietly, squeezing the breath right from him.

Lauren was in too much shock to give herself away. She didn’t have the voice to call out for him to stop. It had all happened so quickly. Peter had acted so quickly that his entire movement had been a blur.

“Let him go!” a new voice shouted down from the speakers in the ceiling. “Drop him, Petrelli. Drop him now!”

Peter didn’t blink and he didn’t move. Not one inch. For the first time in a long time, Peter could feel his powers again. He knew that if he wanted to, at this moment, he could squeeze the life out of Dr. Hahn.

“Petrelli!” the voice in the ceiling snapped again.

Peter finally let go, but he didn’t back away.

The other man stood there, sputtering for breath, as Peter continued to stare him down.

“That is not Lauren Taylor,” Peter said with a quiet intensity. “You could have saved us both a lot of trouble if you’d have just asked me about Lauren in the first place. Lauren was killed by Sylar the night your little group came up to Boston and kidnapped me. I don’t know who that woman is and I don’t care, but remember this. Remember this as a warning. You’re not going to get away with that around me. I will not stand by and watch you hurt anyone. Do you understand?”

“You’re crazy,” the man whispered, hardly daring to look him in the eyes.

“Remember it.”  



	9. Revelations

  
**Chapter 11: Fate**

“Where is he?”

“Where is who?” Claire asked in returned, surprised by the sudden intrusion.

Jenny had practically busted through the door seconds earlier with two of her guards right at her heals. Claire and Mohinder had been sitting in the common room at the time; Nathan and Matt were absent from the scene.

“Who?” Jenny repeated, a scowl on her face. “It’s like an epidemic of stupid around here. Forget the plague. You’ll dumb us to death.”

Claire said nothing. She knew exactly who Jenny was looking for; she just didn’t want her anywhere near him.

“Matt,” Jenny finally said. “Where is Matt? Liked I’d even want to see any of the rest of you.”

Claire hesitated, looking quickly at the bathroom door as Nathan exited the room he’d been napping in.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Sit down,” the guard nearest him barked.

“Bob,” Nathan said as if greeting an old friend. “Now it feels like home.”

“Sit,” the man instructed once more.

Nathan obliged, taking a seat on the couch next to Claire.

“Would you like us to search the premises?” the other guard, not-Bob, asked.

“Search the premises?” Jenny repeated sarcastically. “It’s four rooms, and we’re standing in one of them. Idiots. All of you are idiots. I’ll find him myself; just keep these three in place.”

“She’s not a morning person, I take it,” Nathan said, leaning back and appearing perfectly at ease as he watched Jenny stomp off into the room he’d just left. “Not exactly bright, either. Like Parkman is going to share a room with me.”

As he’d said that last part, Nathan had given Claire a look.

“What?” she snapped.

“Nothing,” Nathan returned.

Mohinder sighed; Nathan and his inability to let this thing go was going to get them all killed.

“You’re not exactly a morning person either,” Nathan said. “Or maybe you didn’t get enough sleep.”

“I don’t sleep much,” Claire retorted. “And what are you trying to say, exactly?”

“Nothing,” Nathan said, shaking his head and looking away. “I’m not saying anything.”

“Let’s keep it that way,” Jenny said having suddenly reemerged from the room, making them all jump slightly in their seats.

They watched as she crossed to the other bedroom, stopping as she finally recognized the sound of running water coming from the bathroom.

“Wait,” Claire called out as Jenny suddenly made a beeline for the source of the sound. “You can’t go in there.”

“Excuse me?” Jenny asked, wheeling back around and giving Claire an icy stare. “I believe I can go anywhere I want to go.”

“But,” Claire stuttered, blushing a bit as not-Bob chuckled, “he’s in the shower. Matt’s…”

Jenny titled her head to the side, and with a satisfied smirk said, “Don’t worry honey, I’ve seen it.”

Claire bit back an angry response, shocked by Jenny’s flippant attitude and horrified by what she’d implied.

She knew it wasn’t likely that he’d hear it, not from another room away while still wearing that damn inhibitor, but just the same Claire tried to send Matt some kind of warning.

 _‘Matt! She’s coming for you! Jenny is coming for you right now!’_ Claire thought over and over, concentrating as hard as she could on only him and hoping it was enough.

She’d only repeated the phrase three times before Jenny was in there with him, and having not received an answer in return, she had little hope that Matt had heard her.

It was a long wait.

Claire, Mohinder and Nathan all watched the door of the bathroom with a perverse fascination.

At least fifteen minutes had passed, possibly more, when they heard the first signs of a struggle. First it was only raised voices, still too indistinct to make out, but that was followed quickly by the sound of glass shattering.

“Sit,” Bob the guard shouted, and for a moment Claire didn’t realize he’d been speaking to her.

Mohinder pulled her by the arm, trying desperately to get her back in place, but ultimately Claire remained standing until Nathan stood up with her and physically moved her back to the couch.

“He’s fine,” Nathan said, just under his breath. “I’m sure he’s fine.”

After that the voices died down, and it was another ten minutes before Jenny finally opened the door, leading Matt out with that sick smirk of hers still firmly in place.

Claire hardly noticed Jenny at all; it was Matt she immediately set her eyes on. Matt who looked shaky and pale and had his right arm wrapped in a towel soaked through with blood.

Pulling herself out of Mohinder’s grip, Claire sprang to her feet and rushed towards him.

“Claire,” Matt said, a slight edge to his voice. “I’m fine. It’s alright. It’s a scratch. You don’t have to…”

“No, let me…”

“Sit down!” Jenny barked.

Claire ignored her, still advancing on Matt where he stood.

“Don’t touch me!” Matt yelled.

Absolute silence filled the room.

Claire stood there, only half a foot from Matt, staring in complete disbelief. All the while Matt couldn’t even look at her; he just twisted silently on the spot.

It hurt; it physically hurt her to here him speak that way. To speak in that tone, as if he was afraid of her or… or as if he couldn’t stand the thought…

Claire dropped her head, feeling stupid and embarrassed, before returning to her spot between Mohinder and Nathan on the couch again. Choosing not to look up any more and just waiting for whatever was going to happen to be over with so that she could hopefully be alone.

“Come on, Matt,” Jenny said, obviously enjoying herself. “We’ve got things to do.”

 _‘Claire, I’m so sorry,’_ she heard Matt say in her head. _‘Please don’t…’_

“Matt,” Jenny snapped, already standing at the door and waiting for him.

He looked over, seemingly confused as Jenny eyed him with extreme interest.

“Are you talking to her?” Jenny asked, moving not to Matt, but to Claire instead with an awful intensity.

“No,” Matt said quickly, but firmly.

Jenny cast him a look full of suspicion, but seemed to think better of perusing it. Perhaps she recalled the fact that Claire was still a valuable property, or else she was simply waiting for a better time to prove her point. Either way, Matt looked relieved when Jenny walked back to the door and beckoned for him to follow.

Matt did so without a backwards glance, and as soon as they were gone, Claire bolted for the bedroom, intent on being alone.

Matt wasn’t so fortunate.

Jenny talked incessantly as they took the now familiar path out of the prisoner wing and to the courtyard towards Anthony’s home. She rambled on and on about how things were finally moving forward, how her plan was working, and how relieved she would be when they finally reached the end.

Matt couldn’t even pretend to share her enthusiasm. His head felt like it was about to split open, his arm had finally stopped bleeding but throbbed continuously. And then there was Claire.

He wanted to explain it to her, hoped she’d let him when he got back, but knew how much he’d stung her and hated himself for it.

“Anthony,” Jenny was soon calling out, having thrown open the door without ceremony this time. “I’ve brought him. Where are you?” she asked, adding in an undertone. “You creepy little mouse.”

“Good,” Anthony said, popping up unexpectedly from behind two filing cabinets to their immediate right. “Good. Nice to see you again, Officer Parkman. Nice. Very nice.”

“Okay then,” Jenny said with great hesitation. “I’ll just leave you two here for your talk.”

Matt couldn’t hide his surprise. He hadn’t known what to expect on this little trip, but he never would have guessed Jenny would leave him unsupervised and alone in this fashion.

“Yes,” Anthony said, actually ushering her to the door. “Just like it says. Officer Parkman and I have a chat. Alone. We talk alone. You know how it goes. You know. You’ve seen it. Now, out. Out.”

“I’ll be back in an hour,” Jenny said before the door was closed in her face.

“We’ll be waiting,” Anthony called through it before rushing back to Matt with a huge grin. “Can’t believe it. Can’t. She left. She really did it. It’s going to work. After all this time. We’ll get to the end. We’ll finally get to the end.”

Matt watched, fascinated as Anthony took his arm and dragged him back to his desk, practically laughing from joy.

“I should explain first,” Anthony started, offering Matt a chair as he spoke. “I should tell you how. How I do what I do. I know how you work. I’ve read it and wrote it a thousand times or more. I know what you do and how strong… how good you’ve become. Not many can do that. Not many at all. Some of us change with our gifts; your gift has changed with you.”

“What are you…”

“No questions,” Anthony snapped, pacing circles around his desk. “No time. If you listen, no need. I’ll get it all out. I will. Just takes me… takes me minute. So many thoughts. So many pictures and words flying through my head. Takes me a minute.”

Matt nodded, growing dizzy from watching the other man’s progress.

“I see the future,” Anthony said, for the first time sounding sane. “I see it in my head. In words and pictures. I’ve been doing it for years. I’m not sure how long. I can’t remember. But it’s been years. She’s told me that. Years ago is when it all began. I don’t believe much she tells me, but that I do.”

Anthony stopped pacing, leaning on his desk with a wild look in his eyes.

“I can think of a person and write down what they are doing at this moment, in a week, in a year… at any time as long as it’s in the future.”

“And she’s had you do this for me?”

“No questions!” Anthony snapped.

“I’m sorry,” Matt returned.

“No, it’s not your… People change things all the time,” Anthony said desperately. “They do little things that completely upset all… I tried to save you all. I did. I knew that once she sent that man Franco up that it could all go so very wrong. Sometimes I see it different ways. I tell her I only get one vision, but really… really I see many. I just write the one that’s strongest. The one that’s most likely to happen. I write the one I think she’ll want to read.”

Matt shook his head, not wanting to ask anything in case it upset the other man even more, but not getting what he was being told in the slightest.

“Okay,” Anthony said, understanding Matt’s dilemma. “I didn’t want… this is what I mean! I knew this could happen and I didn’t want you to ask questions because I knew… I knew that this… Now I have to tell you. Now I have to make you understand… And now… now it could all change again. Now. Now it’s bad. Very bad.”

“Anthony…”

The other man held up a hand for silence and Matt readily complied.

“The colony,” Anthony said, returning to his desk and dragging out an accordion folder stuffed full of papers. “The colony. I told her when that man Franco left that this… that this was the end. That if she brought you all back, it would be over. That Dr. Suresh would make the vaccine and you’d all be saved. Not all. She doesn’t care for all of you. But she’d be saved and that’s what she wants.”

Matt took the papers that were now being thrust at him, but didn’t bother to skim them.

“It’ll take me…”

“Forever to read them,” Anthony finished, with a nod. “Yes. Yes I know. Don’t bother. Don’t bother to read. Just listen. I’ll tell you everything. Listen.”

Matt nodded again, trying to follow what Anthony was all about.

“That ending,” Anthony went on. “That happy ending she wanted would have happened if she’d just followed through. If she’d just went along with her own plan, it’d be over. Over. All done. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t help herself. Ms. Yi can never help herself. She’s jealous and full of spite and she doesn’t want competition.”

“Competition?” Matt asked. “You don’t mean…”

“It’s why she couldn’t help it,” the younger man said. “She wants you to herself. She hates you, Officer Parkman, but she needs you just the same. For herself. It’s why in ending after ending, she kills Ms. Bennet. It’s why she didn’t listen. I told her exactly what to do, and she didn’t listen. She killed Agent Hanson to get her out of the way. It wasn’t supposed to happen like that. It wasn’t supposed to happen at all. But she couldn’t help herself.”

Matt stood up and turned away, feeling angry and confused.

“She’s better now. Now that she knows she was so close. Ms. Yi was so close to ruining herself. She’s more careful now, but still… I write everyday, Officer Parkman, and still… it’s there. The chance.”

“She doesn’t know any of this?” Matt asked quietly, still unable to face him.

“No,” Anthony said in an awed voice. “No. She doesn’t. She can’t know. If she knew about all the possibilities… If she knew about all the futures out there… There’s a reason we don’t last long, Officer Parkman. People, with gifts like mine. It burns you out. It rips. It tears. You can’t understand what it’s like to know how limitless the future is. How out of control our own destinies can be. How out of our hands fate is. If I told her that, if I tried to explain…”

“She’d kill you,” Matt finished.

“No,” Anthony said in a hush. “She’d kill us all.”  



	10. Revelations

  
**Chapter 12: Genetics**

“So she’s never realized, in all this time that you can’t guarantee her anything?” Matt asked as straight forward as he could.

“No,” Anthony said, shaking his head harshly. “She hasn’t. Never. She doesn’t… That’s not how Ms. Yi thinks. She thinks she’s right. All the time. About everything. She never considers the alternative. Never.”

“So when you had me stop Claire…”

“From asking about it, yes,” Anthony took up quickly. “Possibilities. Chances. I had to get you to make her stop. She understood. She almost asked how I could ever guarantee it. How I could ever guarantee any ending. Ms. Bennet understood about options and possibilities and the endless, endless variations… She knew. If she’d have said it, Ms. Yi might have known too. She might have understood.”

“She really doesn’t know,” Matt said, trying to take in that bit of information.

Jenny had been in his head so long now that she felt omnipresent. Of course, knowing now she had the added assistance of a pre-cog at her disposal explained some of that sensation, but there was more to it. Matt hadn’t been lying or even stretching the truth a single bit when he’d told Claire he was worried about Jenny controlling his mind. That she was taking over his actions and feelings. And if she wasn’t, she was definitely getting closer to doing it. Every day, every time she came at him with some new assault, Jenny managed to work herself a little farther into his head.

“No,” Anthony repeated, seemingly calmer than before. “I do what I can… I… I…”

“You make it up,” Matt said, hearing the unfinished thought that seemed to embarrass Anthony.

“Not all of it,” he defended.

“You’ve been making it up,” Matt repeated, shocked.

“It’s not like that. Not really. I do what I have to do. I have to do this, you… I’m trying to explain. We can end this, Officer Parkman. If we work together, act our parts, than… than it can finally be over.”

“How does she not know? How does she not look into your head and see it?” Matt asked, astonished that Anthony could deceive Jenny for so long, so well.

“She never looks,” Anthony answered honestly. “She’s afraid to look in me. There aren’t many. Not many at all. But some. Some of us, she fears.”

“I thought she wanted to know her future? You wouldn’t even have to write it for her. She could pull the images right out of your head.”

“No one really wants to know their future,” Anthony said, his voice laced with sadness.

“So what do you plan on doing here? What can you do? I can see now you’ve been manipulating her, you’ve been getting her to change her plans and directions, but why? That’s what I don’t get here, Anthony, why are you even bothering, especially if, as you keep telling me, the future is so unpredictable?”

“Hope.”

“Excuse me?” Matt asked.

“Hope. I have it. Hope. I still hope that it can happen. The end. It has to be here someday, right? Why not help it along? Why not hope for it? Why not try?”

“How did you get me here today?”

“Hope,” Anthony repeated. “And deceit. Lies.”

“Anthony, you’re not making any sense to me.”

“I wrote about your friends,” the other man continued, almost as if Matt hadn’t spoken at all. “I wrote about them. Talking. Whispering. About you. I knew… I knew if she saw that, she’d want you to see it. She wants you to hate them. I wrote that. I wrote the lies and I wrote you coming here to learn the truth.”

Matt shook his head, having to wonder if this whole conversation was just another of Jenny’s massive hallucinations. It felt unreal.

“She thinks you’re showing me something… something that will make me hate them? Hate Claire and Mohinder? After everything she’s done, I’m just going to start hating them?”

“Yes.”

“That makes no sense.”

“You have to.”

“No. No, I don’t have to,” Matt fired back, irritated with this whole thing.

“Listen. Please, listen to me. Please,” Anthony begged. “I have a way out. I know it. I feel it. I’ve been working. So hard, I’ve been working. To get you here. Every draft I’ve made, every copy, every revision. I’ve been trying to get you here. All of it, all the plans I’ve made were to bring you back here.”

“Why? Why am I so important to whatever it is you’ve got planned?”

“Because you kill her!” snapped Anthony.

“You…” Matt said, after a full minute of silence. His voice so tight, so strained, the words barely came out but for the anger behind them. “You did this? You’ve been steering her toward this, toward capturing me and my friends, toward killing people I…, for what? So I can kill her for you? So I can help you with your own happy ending?”

“It was the only way,” Anthony returned.

“Was it all made up? All of it? The plague? Primatech’s ultimate plans? Was it?”

“The plague was real. Don’t worry about that,” Anthony said, shaking his head frantically. “It’s fine. It’s done. It’s over. This doesn’t do with that. She fixed it. Ms. Yi. I don’t let her know. I’ve changed the pages. Her mistake took care of it.”

“How?” Matt asked out of curiosity.

“Peter Petrelli.”

Matt nodded. The answer was brief but full of meaning.

“Now it’s your turn,” Anthony said quietly. “Your turn to do your part.”

“My part was done a long time ago,” Matt said, still very upset. “In fact, I never wanted a part in this. I never asked… I never…”

“That’s not how it works.”

“I don’t care.”

“You have to help me,” Anthony said. “You have to help yourself. Ms. Yi… Ms. Yi can’t help herself, sometimes. Eventually. Eventually she’ll find out. She’ll discover what I’ve done. When she does…”

“She’s going to kill us anyway,” Matt finished for him. “You of all people should know that. You must have written it a thousand times by now. She’s going to take all she can from us and then throw us away. That’s what she does. That’s who she is. I know.”

“Do you want to die?”

Matt rubbed his hand across is face in frustration. This was not the conversation he wanted to be having, now or ever.

“Do you want her to die?”

Matt paused, looking back at Anthony and knowing that this time the ‘her’ didn’t mean Jenny.

“You think I’m the one that will end this?” Matt finally asked.

“I know you are.”

“And I’m what? I’m supposed to follow a script or something? You’re going to tell me what to do every step of the way? Start by pretending, for some reason, that I hate my friends and then what? What’s next?”

Anthony didn’t respond, he only stared at Matt with a mixture of dread and sadness.

“If I’m so important to this plan, I think I deserve to know what I’m in for.”

“This is it,” Anthony said, almost appearing to talk to himself; losing all the composure he’d seemingly gained during the course of their conversation. “This is it. This is that moment. It’s all about choice. All of it. You can choose either way. I can’t make you do anything. I can’t… I can only tell you that if you do this, if you go along with me, there will be an end. An end for both of us.”

“Go along with what?”

“You have to let Ms. Yi inside.”

****

“Dr. Hahn doesn’t want to work with you anymore.”

Peter turned his head as much as his present restraints would allow; straining to see where Linderman stood just outside his line of sight.

“He seems to think you have some reservations. That you’ll be too unruly.”

“He’s right.”

“Peter,” Linderman said, his voice a well practiced sigh, “look at yourself. Is this what you want? Do you really want to spend the rest of your life locked up like an animal?”

Peter said nothing, only dropped his head back against the bed he’d been confined to since just after his talk with Dr. Hahn, choosing instead to stare up at the ceiling.

“We could use a man like you,” Linderman continued.

“I’m not going to help you terrorize innocent people.”

“Innocent,” scoffed Linderman. “Really, now. Who is still innocent in the world today? You know firsthand the damage Mr. Gray has caused. And this woman, Lori Thompsen. She says she’s survived years on her own. How exactly does one do that without harming others?”

Peter bit back a response, knowing perfectly well how it was done. Knowing Lauren was scarred enough from the experience, but still as guiltless as they come.

“What about the girl?” Peter asked instead. “What has she done that’s so awful that she needs to be locked away by you?”

“Would you like to find out?”

Peter turned once more and stared at the older man in surprise.

Fifteen minutes later, free of his restraints and with a new inhibitor in place, Peter was walking back down the corridor where he knew the test subjects were kept.

“I don’t imagine this warning will do much to stop you,” Linderman said, indicating the metallic black choker around Peter’s neck, “but should you choose to use your ability with that on, expect some discomfort.”

Peter didn’t reply, only cast a brief glance into the newest occupied cell. Lauren caught his eye briefly through the glass before turning away, pacing the room.

“Here we are,” Linderman said, as the guard nearest the door stood back to allow them access.

Linderman ran a keycard through a reader, punched in a series of numbers, and then the door popped open before them.

As Peter had seen from the observation window, the room itself was set up to resemble a child’s bedroom. The girl, still sitting in her chair by a desk, had a bed, dresser, and a number of toys, all of which appeared unused.

“Hello, Stephanie,” Linderman said in a falsely warm voice.

“When am I going home?” the girl asked, still facing away from them.

“I’ve brought someone to meet you,” Linderman continued. “His name is Peter.”

Finally Stephanie looked.

She was about seven or eight, Peter guessed, with long brown hair and matching eyes.

“Hello,” Peter said with a small smile.

“I want to go home,” the girl repeated, taking a brief look at Peter, but ultimately speaking to Linderman.

“Stephanie,” Linderman said, “would you show my friend Peter here what it is you do?”

“No.”

“Stephanie,” Linderman said warningly.

“You said the last time was it,” Stephanie said, sounding upset. “That I wouldn’t have to do it again.”

“It won’t hurt him,” Linderman said as reassuringly as possible. “I promise. I just want him to see for himself what it is you do.”

Stephanie got tentatively to her feet to approach them both, but stopped a few feet short.

“I don’t want to,” she said in a near sob. “I don’t like hurting people.”

“You will do as you are told to do,” Linderman said, no longer asking.

Stephanie turned her eyes to Peter, pleading for him to do something, or in the very least to understand.

“It’s alright,” Peter said, not sure what she intended to do but willing to say what he could to make it easier for her. “He’s right. Whatever you do, I’ll be fine.”

Her hands shaking, Stephanie closed the remainder of the distance between them and put her hands around Peter’s wrist.

At first, he didn’t know what she was doing, if anything, but soon an icy sensation shot up his arm and enveloped his chest.

Peter gasped in surprise, looking down at where she was holding him, amazed to see dark blue and red streaks branching out from the spot.

“That’s enough,” Linderman said.

Stephanie let go in an instant before running and flinging herself onto the bed across the room.

Peter, unable to stand any longer, fell back against the wall and slid the floor.

“What did she do to me?” he panted, still shaking and feeling as if his insides had been frozen solid.

“She’s poisoned you,” Linderman returned, completely void of emotion. “The same as she did to Mr. Parkman.”

Peter felt it. He felt it rushing through his body, destroying him from the inside out.

“Ms. Franco is our prototype,” continued Linderman.

“Franco?” Peter repeated, recognizing the name at once.

“Yes,” Linderman returned. “Jon Franco’s daughter. You remember him, don’t you? Stephanie was sent to us by Ms. Yi in an effort to keep Mr. Franco better in place. I’d say it’s worked remarkably well. Especially for us. I don’t think Ms. Yi realized what this one little girl could do. That she was the beginning. The beginning of the end of our little experiment. We’ve been harnessing her gift in an effort to make a cure.”

“Cure?” Peter gasped, shaking so bad he could hardly see straight.

“Well, not a cure so much as a plague. A way to wipe out the extras.”

It was then that something inside Peter clicked; some instinct of survival that had been triggered before when he’d been shot. Without meaning to, without even trying, his body began to recall Claire’s powers and fix itself.

Peter threw back his head in complete agony as a shock of pain rushed down his spine.

“I thought that might happen,” Linderman said, still standing over him and making no effort to help. “You’re curing yourself, much the same as Ms. Bennet cured Mr. Parkman. Natural enough. Of course, I told you what would happen if you tried to use your powers with that new inhibitor on. I warned you that you might experience some discomfort.”

The pain intensified as his body continued to rid itself of the poison within. Even as he felt the iciness receding, the shockwaves grew stronger and stronger as Stephanie began to cry louder and louder in the background.

Mercifully, it was over.

Peter sat, panting on the floor, covered in sweat and unable to move.

“You want to kill everyone,” Peter finally said, looking up to see a sick smile on Linderman’s face. “Wipe them out and start over? A plague?”

“Yes, that’s it exactly.”

“But you’d die too,” Peter spat at him. “You’re one of us, I can tell. It would kill you.”

“No, you see, it would not,” Linderman returned, looking entirely too pleased with himself. “As it stands, only four people like us would survive, Peter. You, Ms. Bennet, Ms. Franco, who is immune to her own powers, and myself.”

“Why you? What makes you…”

“Genetics, Peter.”  



	11. Revelations

  
**Chapter 13: Compromise**

Peter stared at him for a moment before comprehension came.

“You and Claire have the same power.”

“Not exactly,” Linderman admitted, holding a hand out to help Peter up. “I can heal myself, sometimes others. But as you can see, I still age. I can still be hurt.”

“If you heal…” Peter started, reluctantly accepting his help.

“Let me clarify that statement,” Linderman interrupted. “I can cure. If I broke an arm or a leg, Peter, it would not mend automatically on its own. Ms. Bennet is a great deal further advanced than I ever dreamed to be.”

Peter looked over at the bed where Stephanie still lay. She was no longer crying the same way she’d been but instead peaking at him from under her arm as if terrified he’d be angry or hurt.

“It’s alright,” he assured her, trying to sound as if he’d meant it. “I’m not hurt. I’m fine.”

Stephanie didn’t answer him, just turned her head the other way.

“This is why…” Peter started, only to be stopped by Linderman holding up a hand for silence and indicating the door.

Peter nodded, taking one last look at the little girl on the bed, before following Linderman out into the hallway.

“This is why you wanted Claire?” Peter asked. “Not just to harvest her power, but to keep her from helping others? To keep her from curing them?”

“Yes,” Linderman said, walking further down the corridor with Peter right at his heels.

“How soon?” Peter asked as calmly as he could.

“Before we begin?” Linderman returned. “That depends.”

“On?”

“On how soon we can get Ms. Yi back under our control.”

“I don’t…”

“Ms. Yi, we’ve discovered, has been onto our plans for some time. Nathan, we trusted. Nathan was always meant to be brought along with us when the time was right, but Ms. Yi… No. She’s a different animal altogether.”

“But you helped her take over,” Peter began. “You were going to have her kill Nathan. You’ve…”

“It’s complicated,” Linderman interrupted. “Very complicated. Of course, I wanted things to work out with Nathan, but it seems that having been raised a Petrelli, he developed some very different traits from my own.”

“You mean morals?”

“Yes,” Linderman smiled. “In a manner of speaking. Nathan began to have doubts. He began to wonder if what we were doing was really the right thing. I had no choice.”

“He’s your son.”

“You can imagine my disappointment then.”

Peter turned away angrily, not wanting to get drawn into a fight this way.

They’d stopped once more in front of Sylar’s cell. Peter gazed into the room, watched the unconscious man for some time before finally speaking again.

“So it’s just a matter of time. When you’re sure that Jenny Yi isn’t going to, what? What can she do to stop you?”

“She can do exactly what we’ve been planning to do, that’s what.”

“You don’t mean…”

“Yes,” Linderman confirmed. “She has Ms. Bennet. She has her and enough technology to create a cure for herself and any others she might deem fit.”

“She has Claire,” Peter repeated in a hush.

“And Nathan,” Linderman continued. “We assume. We can’t be certain; she’s done away with all of our people within the Order. Still, she has over the past few months, broached the idea of a trade.”

“A trade for what?”

“Security. Safety,” Linderman said. “If there is one thing Ms. Yi wants, it’s to survive. She’d do anything to ensure her own protection. That’s why we chose her in the first place.”

Linderman watched him for a moment, contemplating his next move. Peter shifted uneasily on his feet. He had only met Jenny Yi one time, and that had been more than enough. From what he’d heard of her, from Mohinder and from Claire, what he witnessed for himself, she was a twisted, depraved woman who enjoyed tormenting the people around her. Knowing she had Claire, that she had Nathan, was chilling.

“We haven’t agreed to her demands yet,” Linderman said, purposely drawing out the sentence. “I’m the only one left in the organization that the plague would affect, and since I can heal myself…”

Peter listened quietly, but knew there was a lie in that. They wouldn’t have continued to hunt Claire so desperately all these years if that was the truth.

“Still,” Linderman continued, taking Peter’s silence as acceptance, “deals can be made. I’m sure we could reach an agreement with her, if we wanted to.”

Peter nodded, knowing where this was headed. That same crossroads again. Linderman would save Claire and Nathan, at a cost. At a high cost.

“If you were more cooperative, Peter, I’m sure something could be done for them.”

Shuffling his feet as if in contemplation, Peter slowly turned back around to face Linderman again.

“What exactly would I have to do?”

****

“Did he tell you?” Jenny asked, sitting across the table from Matt with an obscene smile plastered firmly on her face.

Matt only nodded, refusing to meet her eyes.

He didn’t have to feign being distraught, he really was. Matt had heard Anthony out, listened to his plan and to all of his reasons, and decided to help him. As far as he could see, it was their only chance. Jenny wasn’t going to let them go and she wasn’t going to let them live; not for long at least. This way he was still trying. Still holding out hope the way Anthony continued to despite all the odds.

Even if it destroyed him on the inside, Matt was willing to do it if it meant giving the others a chance at survival. Matt was willing to pretend that he was with Jenny, not against her. He was willing to let her think he was everything he was not; he was willing to let Claire, and Mohinder, and even Nathan think it as well. All of that and more would be well worth the price, if it worked.

He hoped it would.

“You’re upset,” Jenny stated. “I’m sorry for it. I really am. Still, I thought you should know the truth. You’re big into that, aren’t you? The truth.”

“Yes,” Matt said quietly, still refusing to look her way.

“Did you know?” she asked, unable to keep from tormenting him further. “Did you have any idea at all?”

“No,” he answered, shaking his head a bit as he felt her begin to poke inside his head.

Matt didn’t fight her, but he didn’t let her have full access either. He knew that eventually he would have to, if what Anthony said was right, but right now it was too dangerous. Right now he had to keep his focus in order to ensure that Jenny didn’t find out the truth about his encounter with Anthony. He had to just let her see what coincided with the version of events Anthony had written up for her. Matt had to focus.

“I’ve done a little digging,” Jenny said, evidentially pleased with the memories she’d found inside Matt’s mind. “Something I thought you might want to see. Proof, if you will. I know that sometimes Anthony can be hard to believe, but he’s really very accurate. Very.”

With a first glance at the file before him, Matt knew this was going to be much more difficult than he’d imagined. He knew that Jenny expected it all to enrage him, but it felt like such ancient history. It was hard to be angry about things he had no control over; things from the past that were wholly unconnected with the present.

But still, he looked.

Matt looked, nodded at each new picture, and tried to muster up whatever emotion he could. It wasn’t until he realized that Jenny was watching him with unrestrained glee that he finally found the strength to be angry.

In every picture he envisioned Jenny’s face, finally growing so enraged he flipped them all over and shoved them aside.

“See how it is?” Jenny questioned, leaning in closer as she spoke. “You think you know someone and then… well, then there’s this. I don’t imagine she ever told you, right?”

Matt forced himself to respond by shaking his head.

“And I know he never did,” Jenny continued.

“No,” Matt answered, truthfully this time. “No, he didn’t.”

“All that time,” Jenny continued in a falsely sorrowful voice, “all those years, while you were barely alive, she was with him. Living well in the heart of Nathan Peterilli’s Order. Working for him even. Never giving you a second thought. Never bothering to even try and find out what had really happened.”

Matt let out something like a sigh. It was becoming harder and harder not to respond. It was hard not to defend Audrey, but he knew that if he did then Jenny would suspect something. Claire had been right after all. So had Anthony. Jenny never thought of things in terms of how other people might perceive them, she thought of things only in terms of how she would perceive them.

And if in Matt’s situation, if Jenny had found that the person she’d loved had dared to love another, had dared to start a life without her, Jenny would want blood.

Matt didn’t think that way. He knew he had no higher claim to Audrey than anyone else had, especially not at that point in time. True, he had held out hope over those years that she’d remembered him, that maybe perhaps there had been something more, but he certainly hadn’t expected her to wait for him.

Besides all of that, Matt had long known about Audrey’s involvement with Mohinder. It’s not something she’d have ever kept secret from him. Hell, he read minds; it’s not something she could have kept secret from him.

She’d thought he was dead. Even if she hadn’t, Audrey knew he was married. Mohinder and Audrey had naturally leaned on one another during the aftermath of New York, much as he and Claire had; only their relationship had turned intimate. Matt wasn’t privy to why it had ended, but it did and on good terms since Audrey and Mohinder had remained close friends.

The bottom line was he loved her.

Not that Matt thought Jenny was capable of understanding that; of understanding love. Not real love. She might think she loved other people, but she only loved them when they were useful to her. When they did what she expected them to do and acted the way she wanted them to act.

In a snap Jenny was back in his head again, trying to decipher whether or not he was really as angry as he seemed to be. If that anger he felt was being directed in the proper direction.

As much as he could, Matt shifted his focus to Mohinder. It was easier that way; easier to pretend to hate him. Mohinder, as far as he knew, didn’t know Matt was aware of his involvement with Audrey; all the better. It made it a bit truer, and a bit easier to fake. The real problem with all of this would be the fact that Claire did know. Matt had naturally told her all about it. It could make all of this much messier than it needed to be, much harder to pull off.

Still, Matt’s job was to make Jenny trust him, any way he could. Jenny wanted Matt to be like her. Jenny wanted complete control. Matt was going to have to give it to her, or in the very least put on a very convincing act.

Jenny smiled.

“Maybe we should all have a talk?” Jenny asked. “Get it all out in the open? Might do you some good, it’s really not healthy to repress all those emotions, Matt.”

“I don’t want to talk to him,” Matt said, grinding his teeth.

“Understandable,” Jenny returned. “But what about Claire? And Nathan? Don’t you at least…”

“What do they have to do with this?” Matt asked, for the first time since he entered the room, not playing a part.

“Didn’t he show you everything?” Jenny returned skeptically.

“There wasn’t time,” Matt said trying to cover, all the while wondering what else there could be.

Anthony had only told him that Jenny would use Mohinder’s relationship with Audrey to try and sway him. That she’d learned about it herself from the latest revision, and then by reviewing the surveillance tapes in their quarters and the old files within the Order. He’d never said anything about Claire or Nathan; nothing at all. Maybe he hadn’t thought Matt would go through with it if he had.

Or maybe Jenny, once again, couldn’t help but pour some more salt in the wound.

Jenny opened another file and laid a few new pages before him.

Matt stared at it for a few moments, recognizing Anthony’s handwriting straightaway, before the words started to come together and form coherent thoughts.

He read it all, twice, before looking back up at Jenny.

“Who’s Linderman?” he asked, his voice tight and restrained.

“Does it matter?”

“If you want me to believe this, it does.”

“He’s the head of the Republic,” Jenny provided. “Of Primatech.”

“And this is true?”

“Every word.”

“How do you…” Matt started to ask before ultimately going back to the words on the page before him.

Jenny was back inside his mind; pulling out pictures and seeming increasingly pleased with the results.

“Now do you want to go have that talk with them?” Jenny asked, smiling brightly.

Matt only nodded in response.  



	12. Revelations

  
**Chapter 14: Feint**

“What do you think she wants this time?” Mohinder asked, both of his elbows on the table as he looked at the clock.

“Who knows,” Nathan answered, leaning back in his chair. “I’m sure I don’t care. Knowing how sick she is, it could be she just brought us here so that we could watch her kill bunnies or something. Pull the wings off of flies. There’s no telling, really.”

“That’s disgusting,” Claire said, not even bothering to lift her head up from where it was tucked into her arms.

They were back in the conference room they’d initially discussed Anthony’s writings, just the three of them. They hadn’t seen or heard anything about Matt since Jenny had picked him up early that morning.

“Do you think she found something new about the plague?” Mohinder questioned uneasily.

“Again, I don’t care,” said Nathan. “Besides, you’re the only one of us here who’ll survive it. Why are you so worried?”

“Oh yes,” Mohinder said sarcastically. “I’m certain that if this plague is released, and I still haven’t worked out an antidote, that Jenny Yi is just going to let me walk out of here a free man. She might even send me off with a care package. A nice pat on the back and a hearty ‘you did your best’, right?”

“Someone’s grouchy,” Nathan said with a smirk.

“Just… just shut up,” Mohinder fired back, returning his former clock watching activities.

“Boys, please,” Claire sighed, looking at the clock now for herself. “How long have we been in here?”

“At least an hour,” Nathan replied, rocking gently in his chair.

“More like two,” Mohinder corrected.

“That clock doesn’t even work,” Nathan bit back, his chair falling into an upright position.

“It’s been at least two hours,” Mohinder said, refusing to back down.

“It doesn’t matter,” Claire interjected, growing extremely weary of their behavior and anxious to see Matt again. “Please. Just stop it, alright? We’ve got enough to deal with without being at each other’s throats.”

Nathan nodded in conciliation.

“Maybe she’s…” Mohinder began to say, unable to stand the silence any longer, before being interrupted by the opening of the door.

They all looked up to see Matt in the doorway. He paused briefly, Jenny right behind him, before storming inside straight towards Nathan.

“You son of a bitch,” Matt yelled, dragging Nathan up out of his chair and throwing him against the wall. “You sick son of a bitch! You knew, didn’t you? You knew and still… You still…”

“Easy,” Jenny called out serenely as she shut the door behind her. “He’s still useful, believe it or not.”

“Parkman, have you finally cracked?” Nathan asked, doing his best to throw him off. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Matt didn’t answer him, only stood there, inches from his face, as he continued to stare him down.

That’s when Nathan felt it. Matt wasn’t just reading his mind, he was ripping through it. Pulling and searching for some bit of information that Nathan couldn’t fathom. Nathan couldn’t even think. It was painful and intrusive and Matt showed no signs of stopping.

“Matt!” Claire screamed, the shock wearing off as she got to her feet and tried to intervene. “What are you doing? Stop! Stop it! Matt, please stop!”

“Stay out of it, Claire,” Jenny said warningly. “I’m sure Matt will love to have a talk with you next.”

“Matt!” Claire continued, ignoring Jenny as she reached up and tried to physically yank Matt away from Nathan; terrified he wasn’t in his right mind.

He wouldn’t budge.

“Please stop! You’re hurting him, Matt!”

Mohinder was on his feet now as well, joining in with Claire’s pleas; horrified to see Nathan had actually begun to shake slightly where he stood.

“Matt!” Claire yelled, once more, tugging hard on his arm.

Matt finally responded, but it wasn’t in the way she expected him to.

He shoved her.

Claire fell back against the table. Hard. Stunned.

She couldn’t speak; she could only stare at him in disbelief.

This couldn’t be happening. Something was making him act this way. Someone had to be, and Claire knew who that someone was.

Her face flushed, Claire sat back down in her chair and shut her mouth, unsure what to do next. Frightened at what was happening but unable to do anything to stop it.

The room grew abnormally quiet, broken abruptly by Jenny’s laughter.

Matt, his focus still primarily on Nathan, seemed to come back to himself a bit after that. Nathan, able to concentrate again with Matt out of his head, saw it. He could see the subtle shift behind the other man’s eyes that, to him, indicated something was very off indeed.

Nathan reached up and wiped a sleeve across his now bloodied nose.

Matt’s gaze hardened again as he met Nathan’s eyes, stepping out of his way.

“Well?” Jenny asked, taking her accustomed seat at the head of the table.

“He doesn’t know,” Matt answered, moving to take the seat at her right-hand side.

“Hey,” Nathan said as he wobbled slightly on the way back to his chair, “if you wanted to ask me something, there are better ways, Parkman.”

Matt didn’t answer, but Jenny obviously found it all very amusing.

“I think we should tell them,” Jenny said, addressing Matt. “Don’t you? It seems cruel not to let them in on it.”

“Yes,” said Nathan dryly, answering for him. “I’d love to know.”

“Matt,” Mohinder said, unable to help himself. “What’s wrong with you? What has she…”

“Don’t,” Matt replied tersely. “Don’t talk to me, Mohinder.”

“Matt, look what she’s making you do,” he continued to try, despite the glare he was receiving in return. “Look how she’s making you act. She’s full of lies, Matt.”

“Lies?” Matt fired back, but with half the venom his voice had previously held. “You want to talk to me about lies?”

Mohinder didn’t know how to respond. He had no idea what Matt was even talking about. Instead of speaking, he looked silently to Claire for help.

But Claire didn’t know either.

It was Nathan, only Nathan, who had an inkling of what Matt might be referring too. His eyes flicked over to where Jenny sat smugly, a well-worn folder clutched in her hands.

“You call her a liar,” Matt continued, getting to his feet and taking the folder from Jenny, “but at least she’s upfront about it. At least she’s never pretended to be someone she isn’t. Not like you, right Mohinder? Pretending to be my friend. Pretending that this never happened.”

Matt threw the folder down in front of Mohinder and several photos slid out. Mohinder stared at them, not knowing what to say. Not sure how he could explain any of it or even why he should have to. Nathan looked up at the ceiling, actually feeling guilty about this mess, since it was under his orders that the photos had even been taken. Claire however, was looking right at Matt, amazed and confused.

H was either one hell of a liar or Jenny really had rewired his brain, she couldn’t decide which, because Claire knew, she absolutely knew, that Matt had known about Audrey’s past relationship with Mohinder. Not only had he known, he’d been understanding; disappointed, but understanding. But never, not even once, had Matt ever said a bad word about Mohinder or Audrey in regard to it all. Never.

So this… this now, was very surprising.

“Matt…” Mohinder stammered, still looking at the photos in shock, “I thought you knew this. I thought…”

“How could I have known this if you never bothered to tell me?”

“But, Matt…” Claire began.

“Don’t defend him,” Matt said sharply, looking up and giving her a hard stare.

Claire shut her mouth, more confused than ever.

“Let it go already, Parkman,” Nathan said, trying to deflect attention away from the other two. “It was ages ago. And, it’s not like she was having an affair. She wasn’t sleeping with Suresh at the same time she was sleeping with you.”

Matt turned back to Nathan and it was obvious. Whatever it was that he was feeling or feigning, it wasn’t all entirely made-up. He really did hate Nathan right now and it showed.

“You’d know, wouldn’t you?” Matt asked, his voice lower now and more intense. “You’re the worst one here. The biggest liar of them all. The one that started this mess but didn’t have the balls to finish it, right?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Nathan returned sarcastically. “Blame me. Fine. Whatever, Parkman. It’s old.”

“Did you know?” Matt asked one more time.

“About Suresh and Hanson? Of course I knew,” Nathan returned, almost laughing. “Who do you think had the pictures taken?”

“Don’t get smart, just answer me. Did you know?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Nathan fired back.

“Are you that sick?” Matt continued to question, growing increasingly upset as he spoke. “Would you really keep it to yourself, considering…”

“Considering what?” Nathan returned, growing impatient.

“I found it,” said Matt. “Contrary to what you might think, I’m not stupid and I’m not illiterate. And I found it. Your biggest secret. Your real part in this whole thing. The family obligation to have a child for the cause.”

“My sons…” Nathan began bitterly, not liking what he was hearing one bit.

“I’m not talking about your sons, Nathan,” interrupted Matt harshly. “I’m talking about your daughter!”

Nathan sat back, visibly paling at the words; slowly shaking his head.

Once again, the whole room had gone silent.

“How do you…”

“You did know then?” Matt said, shaking his head and issuing a humorless laugh.

“No,” Nathan dismissed, shaking his head. “No. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I may have had a daughter, but she died years ago. I never even… It’s history. It’s done.”

“She didn’t die, Nathan,” Matt said coldly. “She can’t.”

Mohinder watched as Nathan’s eyes practically popped out in surprise, catching at once Matt’s meaning.

It took Claire a second longer.

“No,” she finally said quietly, shaking her head from side to side with a near hysterical giggle. “No, that’s not… That can’t be true.”

“You had a child,” Matt continued, ignoring Claire completely, “like an obedient son and then handed her over for the cause. Didn’t you, Nathan? Even worse, you hunted her down. For years. Tracked her, stalked her, made her life miserable.”

“Stop it,” Claire said, getting to her feet as tears began to stream down her face. “This isn’t true. It’s not. Matt, you’re making this up. You’re lying. She’s making you lie to us.”

“I’m not making it up,” Matt replied without once looking her way.

“Claire,” Nathan said, turning her way and reaching out in some effort to calm her down. “I didn’t know. I really… I didn’t.”

“Don’t touch me,” Claire snapped.

“Of course he knew,” Matt said, almost at the same time. “He knew and he just didn’t care. It didn’t matter who might get hurt by it, as long as it wasn’t him.”

“No,” Nathan said, trying to defend himself. “It’s not like that. It’s not like that at all. Claire, I didn’t know. If I’d have known…”

“You probably thought it was all really amusing,” Matt said, talking loudly over Nathan. “Thought it was a good joke that your daughter and your brother…”

“Shut up!” Claire shrieked, turning in a circle before realizing there was no where to go. No way to escape this conversation that was like some kind of twisted nightmare. “Shut up!”

Matt looked down at his hands, clenched so tightly they were white from the effort.

“Why are you doing this?” Claire continued to scream. “Why? Just, stop it! Stop saying these… these…”

Unable to continue any longer, Claire leaned back into the wall before sliding to the floor in a flood of tears.

“I think that’s enough for today,” Jenny said calmly, smiling at a job well done. “Come on Matt, I think we can arrange private quarters for you.”

“Good,” he said quietly, getting to his feet and following Jenny out the door without another word.

He wouldn’t look back at any of them. He couldn’t.  



	13. Revelations

  
**Chapter 15: Hope**

Nathan thought he might be dying.

Not long after Jenny had escorted Matt out of the conference room, four guards had returned them to their quarters. Both Nathan and Mohinder had gone along quietly, but Claire had sobbed the entire time, simply unable to control her emotions; not that anyone could blame her.

As soon as they were back she’d gone immediately into one of the rooms. Nathan attempted to go after her, to try and talk to her about all of this but Mohinder, and his own weakened physical condition, stopped him from doing so.

Mohinder just calmly suggested Nathan lie down as well and said that he’d make sure Claire was alright.

Not in a situation to argue, he had agreed. His head felt like it was being beaten like a bass drum in a Sousa march; his vision was impaired and the room felt like it was spinning. Nathan simply could not continue on.

So, he’d gone to rest, not that it had done much help.

Nathan was barely able to sleep and when he did finally doze off his dreams were tormenting and unintelligible; they were fever dreams, a sure indication he was very, very ill. They were horrible remembrances of the past all blurred together. At one point he even imagined Peter was in the room, talking low and undoubtedly cursing his existence.

He woke with a start surprised to find Claire sitting beside him on the bed, her eyes still red and puffy, but at least no longer crying.

“You were talking in your sleep,” Claire said softly, unable to even look at him still. “Screaming actually. Mohinder and I came to make sure you’re alright. He thought… He’s getting you some water. I don’t know what Matt did, but I think I fixed it. You shouldn’t be in any pain now.”

“I’m not,” answered Nathan, realizing it for the first time as he spoke; sitting up on the bed as if he was afraid of scaring her off. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, well,” Claire said, getting quickly to her feet. “That’s what I do.”

“Claire,” Nathan called out as she made a hasty retreat towards the door, “we need to talk about… well, about this.”

“Is it true?” she asked, her back still to him.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, standing up and taking a few tentative steps forward.

Claire faced him again, still uncertain if he could be trusted or believed.

“I did have a daughter,” Nathan went on, encouraged by the mere fact that Claire hadn’t walked out. “I was in college at the time, just starting my sophomore year. My parents, as you can imagine, were not thrilled. They never liked Meredith.”

“Is that her name?” asked Claire, stepping closer; interested despite herself. “My mother? Her name is Meredith?”

“Was,” Nathan corrected. “She died. Both she and my… well, you if it’s true… there was a fire.”

“Where were you?”

“Home,” Nathan said, dropping his head. “Back in New York. Like I said, my parents didn’t approve. I kept in touch with her throughout the pregnancy… I tried to, at least. She was very angry with me. She had every right to be.”

“You left her?” Claire asked, staring not at him but at the wall. “You just abandoned her? You abandoned me?”

“I…” Nathan started and then stopped again. Sighing heavily, he dropped his head and began again. “Nothing I can say will ever change what has happened. I made a mistake. I knew it then. Even as I was leaving I knew it was a mistake. A horrible one, but I did it. I’m not proud of it, Claire. It’s not the person I wanted to be, but it’s who I became nevertheless. I can only try now to do what I can to make this alright.”

“How can you make this alright?” she retorted angrily.

“I can start by telling you something I… something you need to know, and something I would never repeat except for this circumstance.”

Claire nodded, preparing herself for the worst.

“I know what Matt said in there,” Nathan began after clearing his throat. “About Primatech and their programs. The experiments.”

“He didn’t say…”

“I know what he meant,” Nathan corrected. “What he’d implied. He read it in my head.”

Claire nodded, willing to continue listening.

“Primatech was founded by people with abilities like ours. They’re initial purpose was to find those that showed signs of… well, show signs of super-human powers. At the time, there were not many, there had never been many, but someone must ensure that the balance of power stayed neutral. They were to find them, track them, and if necessary contain them. That is what they set out to do, but soon they realized that they might be able to duplicate certain powers for themselves; for the good of mankind, of course.”

“Duplicate how?” Mohinder asked, having silently joined them while Nathan spoke.

“Gene manipulation,” Nathan returned without missing a beat. “That was the goal. They were going to find those with powers they did not have and borrow them. Alter their own genetic make-up so that they too could posses them.”

Claire let out a huff of air, shaking her head vigorously.

“The problem with their plan was that there weren’t enough of us to choose from. Each person seemed to have a unique gift, some more closely related than others, but it was still… it was still not enough. There were too few options.”

“They got greedy,” Claire commented.

“Yes,” Nathan agreed. “Greedy. Very greedy. That’s when they started not only monitoring those whose gifts appeared spontaneously as a natural part of evolution, but those that had the potential to evolve. And then, when they discovered how, they began to trigger those with potential, those with inactive gifts and powers. They began tracking and tagging them.”

“How many?” Mohinder asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“I’m not sure,” Nathan shrugged. “Hundreds at least. Maybe more. Probably more.”

Mohinder nodded, thinking about his father’s work. About how his own father had cracked the genetic code that identified the potential in those around him. Wondering, but afraid to ask, if his father had somehow been involved.

“Their plan had a number of problems,” Nathan went on. “Problems they didn’t realize until it was too late to do anything about it. The first being that there was no way, at the time, to duplicate or recreate any new power that they found. They could only identify it and watch the person it belonged to. The second was that once a power was activated, they could not deactivate it. The third was that these new sets of powers were much stronger than the ones anyone at Primatech possessed.”

“So they couldn’t stop it and they couldn’t contain it at all,” Claire said, leaning against the wall.

“Exactly,” Nathan agreed. “And it was right about this time that their first experiment started to come to fruition.”

“What first experiment?” Claire asked. “I thought that this was the experiment, the only experiment. There’s more?”

“Yes,” said Nathan with a sigh. “Each member of Primatech, the founding members that is, had agreed to do what they could to ensure that the next generation of ‘evolved individuals’ was indoctrinated into Primatech’s way of thinking. Someone had to continue the work and what better way to ensure that than for each of them to have one child.”

Claire shifted uncomfortably, scowling at Nathan as he spoke.

“One child,” Nathan repeated, clearing his throat again nervously. “One child was all that was required to fulfill this duty. I don’t know who all of the founding members were. There were six total, but I was never told more than I needed to know.”

“So your parents had two for the cause?” Claire asked, her eyes watering again despite her determination to hear the worst of it.

“No,” Nathan said as if pained by the word. “My parents had one. And so did the Petrellis.”

“What?” Mohinder and Claire asked in unison.

“All of this,” Nathan said quickly, growing agitated by the conversation. “All of what I’m telling you, I didn’t know at the time. Honestly, I didn’t know until after it all… until well after it all was too late. After New York. After the Order. After everything.”

“You’re not related,” Claire stated, sounding at once awed and frightened. Hardly daring to believe it was true. “You and Peter aren’t really brothers.”

“No,” Nathan said briskly.

“But why…”

“I didn’t tell him any of this because I…” Nathan started, stopping only to give Mohinder a glare.

Taking the hint, Mohinder left the room quietly, knowing the principle of the matter already and content to leave the two of them to talk together on their own.

“I didn’t tell Peter, because after everything that had happened, I was afraid to tell him,” Nathan admitted as soon as the door was shut.

“Afraid of what?” Claire asked.

“Peter was the only one that trusted me,” Nathan said honestly. “He was the only person who still believed… I didn’t believe anymore. I was afraid if he knew the truth then…”

“Peter would never turn his back on you.”

“Even if he knew we weren’t really brothers?”

“Never,” Claire said firmly.

Nathan nodded his head, looking at the floor for several seconds.

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way,” Nathan finally said. “I’m sorry if this upset you unnecessarily. If I had been upfront with Peter, with everyone at the colony about what I’d known and found out, you’d never have had a reason to be. You’d have known and had been spared at least one unhappy thought out of two.”

“Two?” Claire asked, clearly confused.

“Yes, well,” Nathan responded. “I know I’m not your ideal choice for a father.”

Claire couldn’t deny it outright, but felt Nathan wasn’t quite doing himself justice. He had, after all, just told her things that were obviously painful to him in order to give her back her peace of mind.

“I can’t pretend to forget,” Claire said quietly. “I can’t just start… but I can try. I can try and understand. To forgive. I should forgive since you’ve… What you’ve told me now… Thank you for that. Thank you for…”

For a moment or more there was silence between them. Neither knowing quiet what to do or say next.

“Should we hug or something?” Nathan asked, feeling awkward.

“I think it might be too soon for that,” Claire answered, smiling a bit at the end.

“Okay then,” Nathan said, extending his hand to shake hers.

Claire laughed, but shook his hand just the same.

Nathan clasped her hand in both of his and with a sincere intensity looked her straight in the eyes.

“I’m going to make this up to you.”

“Nathan, you…”

“Yes, I do,” Nathan went on undeterred. “I’d owe you that even if…”

“Okay then,” Claire said, her smile growing just a bit.

Nathan grinned tightly, letting her hand go and staring at her for second; wondering how he’d missed it before. How much Claire did resemble Meredith at that age. Knowing that it was true, that it had to be; Claire really was his daughter.

The realization gave him back something he hadn’t had in some time. It gave him hope.  



	14. Revelations

  
**Chapter 16: Potential**

It had nearly been two weeks since they had dropped off Lauren near one of the processing stations and Hiro was starting to grow worried.

No one had expected her to make any kind of significant contact or attempt a breakout immediately, but they had hoped for something.

They took turns now watching the building day and night showing extreme caution. They had to, the area itself was not heavily populated, but the enemy was all around them. Primatech’s headquarters remained well guarded, with outer inhibitors placed at each of the buildings four corners. The building itself was only four stories high, but they suspected it was at least three stories deep.

“Anything?” D.L. asked as he approached Hiro, ready to relieve him of watch duty.

“No,” Hiro returned, not taking his eyes off the building for even a second.

“Micah and I have been talking,” D.L. started with a sigh.

Hiro turned, surprised to see Micah as well as D.L. with him. They had been alternating the watch amongst the three of them so that at any given time their temporary home was not left abandoned.

“Is everything okay?” Hiro asked.

D.L. looked at his son as if he didn’t know how to answer that particular question.

“What is it?” Hiro asked, growing more and more concerned.

“I haven’t been entirely truthful with you both,” Micah stated plainly, albeit a bit embarrassed.

“About what?”

“About that night in Boston,” Micah answered.

“Micah,” said Hiro, quite seriously. “Now is not the time…”

“It is the time,” Micah interrupted. “I’ve been thinking about it more and more and there’s… there’s something I never… I didn’t want to talk about it. I wanted to forget it.”

Hiro looked at D.L., who nodded solemnly while squeezing his son’s shoulder in a show of support.

“When my mother was killed,” Micah continued on slowly, “something happened to me. Something… changed. I think I changed.”

“It was a traumatic experience,” Hiro said, not knowing exactly what Micah might be getting at.

“No,” Micah said. “I mean my powers. That night… That night I was able to control the helicopters from the Order, without touching them. I was able to get inside the machine just by thinking it.”

D.L. watched Hiro’s expression change and knew what the other man was thinking. They’d witnessed something similar for themselves. During Peter and Sylar’s tussle, Lauren had been caught in the middle and had saved herself with an extraordinary burst of power they had never seen in her before or since.

“I understand why you didn’t want to talk about it,” said Hiro after a pause, “but why are you telling us now? What…”

“I think I can do it again.”

“How?”

“I’ve been practicing,” Micah said with a fierceness in his voice that was an uncanny resemblance of Niki. “On my watch, I’ve been trying to start and stop some of the cars that come into the headquarters building. Last night I did it. I stalled three of them in a row. One of them I completely fried. They had to have it towed.”

“What exactly are you saying?” asked Hiro warily.

“That it’s time we broke them out.”

****

They’d taken off his inhibitor altogether.

Peter couldn’t believe it, but it was true.

He knew that the individual cells and exam rooms had them in place within the walls, but not having one physically on him made a huge difference.

Of course, they had their reasons.

They wanted Peter to try and access each test subject’s power and determine his or her individual capability. Linderman had explained it all in great detail, how they even had a way of doing this without Peter’s help, but that it was a lengthy and painful process.

Peter, on the assumption that if he did as he was asked that Linderman would barter for Claire and Nathan, said he would try.

Not that Peter believed Linderman would keep his word. All he really wanted was a chance to speak with Lauren; the opportunity to try and escape; more information.

To his surprise, the first person they had him help examine was Sylar. Even unconscious and seemingly immobile, the man was frightening.

Dr. Hahn had apparently agreed to work with Peter again, despite his own misgivings, and was showing him the basics after more than a week of training.

“You can see he is secure,” Hahn said, indicating Sylar with a wave of his hand. “This room has our strongest inhibitors inside its walls. He is heavily sedated all the time with round the clock guards at his door.”

“Why?” Peter asked, unable to help himself.

“To study him.”

“Yes, but…”

“You understand our purpose here?” Dr. Hahn interrupted with a question of his own.

“Not really,” Peter shrugged.

“Humph,” the other man snorted. “Of course not. Why would you? Our goal, our purpose here is to benefit mankind. Why should only a select few have such powers? Why should people like you be able to set yourself high above everyone else?”

“So you harness abilities with the intent of distributing them among the masses?” Peter asked, trying his best to play along.

“Not exactly,” Hahn said with a sneer. “Not everyone could handle such power. Only a select few. Those chosen to lead would receive these gifts.”

“Like Mr. Linderman,” Peter provided.

“And myself.”

“So you don’t have a power?” Peter asked, curious about how the operation worked.

If Hahn gave him an answer, Peter didn’t hear him. His attention was drawn somewhere else. Despite all of the inhibitors in place, all of their cautious care, Peter heard felt something click inside him.

_‘Help me.’_

“Mr. Petrelli?”

_‘Help me.’_

“Mr. Petrelli?”

_‘They’ll kill us all.’_

Peter finally looked away from Sylar and back to Dr. Hahn who was extremely annoyed with him now.

“Are you even listening to me?”

“What?” Peter asked, still trying to shake off the eerie feeling Sylar’s voice had left in his head.

“Come now,” Dr. Hahn said, waving a hand toward the door. “We will go check on Ms. Doe.”

“Who’s Ms. Doe?” Peter asked, following the taller man out of the room without a single backwards glance.

“You must remember her,” Hahn said as he walked briskly down the hall. “She was the girl you almost killed me in front of.”

“Ms. Thompsen?” Peter asked.

“Whoever she is,” Hahn said as he keyed in the proper code to the cell, “she is not Lori Thompsen.”

“What? You don’t give people the benefit of the doubt around here?”

“We give nothing around her,” Dr. Hahn said before pushing the door open.

Lauren jumped to her feet in an instant.

“Sit back down,” Dr. Hahn told her.

“Why am I still here?” she asked as she complied with his request.

While they talked, Peter did his best not to appear too interested and instead took in the differences between Lauren’s cell and Sylar’s. It was apparent that, despite still thinking she was from the colony, they did not consider Lauren at all dangerous. There were no strong inhibitors in place, or if there were, they were not turned on at the moment.

“When did your powers first manifest?” Dr. Hahn asked, taking notes on a clipboard as if he was a regular physician.

“What do you mean?” Lauren asked nervously.

“Your ability,” Dr. Hahn said, completely exasperated. “You claim to produce energy. When were you first able to do this?”

“Um…” Lauren stalled, badly. “I’m not sure. I guess it was about… um…”

 _‘Five years ago,’_ Peter put into her head as quickly as he could.

She jumped.

Peter forgot that Lauren hadn’t really known Matt at all and had probably never had that happen to her before. It was, at first, a startling experience.

“How long?” Dr. Hahn repeated, having obviously missed her reaction.

“Five years ago,” she said, stealing a quick glance at Peter.

Dr. Hahn stopped and stared at her, and that’s when Peter knew he’d just made a huge mistake. He wasn’t sure why, but he knew it.

“Five years ago?” he asked again. “Really?”

Lauren nodded, but she looked uneasy.

“What difference does it make?” Peter asked, trying to sound interested and not as if he was defending her.

Dr. Hahn gave Lauren one last appraising stare before turning to go and beckoning for Peter to join him.

Once in the hallway, Dr. Hahn walked quickly back to his office.

“So?” Peter asked when they’d arrived. “Why does it matter?”

“Have a seat, Peter,” Dr. Hahn said, sitting down behind the desk and motioning Peter to the chair towards the front of the room.

Peter did and waiting a moment as the other man appeared to gather his thoughts.

“You really don’t understand, do you?”

“No,” Peter answered honestly.

“He’s never told you what went wrong?”

“I thought New York blowing up is what went wrong,” Peter answered.

“No,” Dr. Hahn said, almost with a laugh. “We knew that would happen. Well, if not that exactly, something close to it.”

“You knew?” Peter asked, completely taken aback.

“Of course,” he answered. “That’s not… The problem wasn’t New York, it was the aftermath.”

Peter looked at him uncertainly.

“New York we could handle,” Dr. Hahn continued to explain. “Those that we had chosen to trigger, we could handle. What we could not handle was those that began to evolve on their own.”

“I thought that’s how I…”

“It is how you evolved,” he interrupted. “There were always a select few that evolved naturally, what I am talking about is an epidemic.”

Peter shook his head, wishing everyone would stop talking in riddles and just give him a real answer when he asked a question.

“How? Explain this to me,” Peter said. “An epidemic of what?”

“Before New York, the United States had a population of around three-hundred million. Of all those people, only about three hundred of them had the potential to evolve. Out of those three hundred, one in fifty did so on their own. That’s about six people who evolve in every generation.”

“Okay,” Peter said with a nod.

“Of those who had not manifested a power on their own,” Dr. Hahn said, “we triggered the evolutionary process in about one hundred of them.”

“The first wave,” Peter said, repeating a phrase he’d remembered Linderman using in describing the situation.

“Yes,” Dr. Hahn said eagerly. “They were the first wave. The second wave occurred in the years following New York. Almost every one of the people who had survived and who were on our original list evolved on their own. Spontaneously and without our help. They adapted to survive.”

Peter nodded again, feeling as if finally some pieces of this puzzle were falling into place.

“And then there is this girl,” Dr. Hahn said quite seriously.

“What do you mean?”

“There was no Lori Thompsen on the master list, Peter.”

“I thought you assumed she was using an alias,” he fired back, feeling now as if they’d been toying with him. Trying to get him to slip up by offering him a few crumbs of information. “I thought you thought she was Lauren Taylor.”

“Lauren Taylor isn’t on that list either.”

“I don’t understand…”

“The third wave, Peter,” Hahn said, staring him straight in the eyes. “The evolution of those who previously held no potential to do so. The evolution of those with no genetic predisposition to manifest.”

“How is that possible?”

“It shouldn’t be.”

“There must be some explanation for it,” Peter said, grasping at straws. “Something genetic…”

“So far we’ve seen none,” Hahn said evenly. “Perhaps a recessive gene. A distant link. We’re not certain. We can’t be certain without testing but it’s too dangerous.”

“How many?”

“We don’t know,” Dr. Hahn answered. “There’s at least one more we’re certain of. It’s why… it’s why we need to stop the experiment, Peter. It’s why it has to end. It if continues then… well, if a hundred extra manifestations can cause so much damage, can throw off the balance enough to alter our entire world, imagine what a million can do. A hundred million. Imagine a world full of people with powers, none of them knowing in the slightest what to do with them.”  



	15. Revelations

  
**Chapter 17: Situation**

“I expected you sooner.”

Matt only glared at him, not yet trusting himself to speak.

“You have free access now, don’t you? I thought you did. You could have come on your own whenever you liked.”

Still nothing.

“I didn’t think…” Anthony said, shifting nervously but still not looking up from what he was writing. “I didn’t think it would take so much. I had to get her to send you. I didn’t think it would take that. You’re madder than I thought. Much madder.”

“You have no idea,” Matt said, clenching his jaw tightly.

“No,” Anthony said, shaking his head and looking up at him with a new alertness. “I do. I really do. I wrote it out, several times,” he said, producing copies as proof. “In three of the drafts you hit me, which, I understand. I do. Don’t feel bad. Twice you refuse to go on. But don’t do that. You have to continue. And once. Well, we’ll not talk about this one,” Anthony finished, crumbling up the paper and throwing it back into a drawer.

For a second hitting Anthony did cross his mind. Matt was very close to doing so, but stopped himself on seeing the other man actually tense up in anticipation.

Sighing, he dropped his hands and began to pace the room.

“You’re not…” Anthony started to say, but quickly stopped himself after casting an odd glance at the window.

“I’m not what?” asked Matt angrily, still trying to calm himself down.

“Nothing. Nothing. It’s just, they’re barred. That’s all. And alarmed. If you break them the guards…”

Matt looked now for himself but quickly shook the thought from his head.

“They don’t have cameras in here,” Anthony continued babbling on. “I make sure of that. Tell her I won’t work with them. I won’t. I just won’t. But the windows… she keeps those alarmed.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Matt finally asked.

“About the windows?”

“No,” Matt fired back. “Why would I care about the windows?”

“Because… Because of…”

“Nathan,” Matt interrupted. “Why didn’t you tell me about Nathan being Claire’s father? Why didn’t you warn me?”

“I couldn’t.”

“Of course you could,” returned Matt harshly.

“You needed to be angry,” Anthony said, sounding sad once more. “You needed… You needed to be very angry in order…”

“I almost killed him,” Matt interrupted.

“Only in two of the drafts.”

“I don’t care about your drafts,” Matt yelled, furious now. “You didn’t tell me anything. You could have at least warned me. At least…”

“If I had it wouldn’t have seemed real.”

“It was real,” Matt returned, slamming his palm onto the desk.

Matt turned his back on the other man for a moment, trying once more to collect himself. It wasn’t an easy thing to do anymore. He hadn’t seen anyone but Jenny now for nearly a week. She was constantly poking into his head, pulling out his worst memories and making him relive them over and over. He was just angry and tense all the time now, and he hated it. Matt hated himself.

“Was it real?” he asked quietly, his back still turned.

“Which part?” Anthony stammered in return.

“Nathan and Claire,” Matt clarified. “The conversation I read between Peter and that guy Linderman.”

“As far as I can tell? Yes. Yes, it’s true. Most of it.”

“Most of it?”

“I may have… I may have given her an edited copy. One that left out certain facts.”

“Like Nathan and Peter not being related?” Matt returned.

“Yes.”

“You should have warned me,” Matt repeated in a low whisper.

“But you found out. You pulled it from his head. He didn’t know. I know you were mad because of… well, I understand. You needed to be. You had to be very angry for it to work. But you saw the truth. Mr. Petrelli didn’t know he was Ms. Bennet’s father. And better, he did know about his own real father. He did know…”

“That doesn’t make sending me in there like that any better,” Matt interrupted.

“You could have told her.”

Matt faced Anthony once more and for a moment just glared at him.

“You found out the truth and you didn’t tell her. You could have,” Anthony repeated meekly. “You could have told her and then…”

“I know,” Matt admitted, dropping his head as the anger finally left him. “I know I could have. I just figured… I gone that far, right? I’d hoped Nathan would tell her the truth.”

“He did,” Anthony said quickly. “He did. Of course he did. He’s not… Mr. Petrelli, he’s not that… He’s not evil. Of course he did. He loves his brother. He’d never hurt him like that.”

Matt nodded, conceding the truth of it.

“Why am I doing this?” asked Matt after a heavy pause, sounding completely lost.

“To end it,” Anthony repeated the same as he always did. “This is the only way.”

“How though? How will this do anything? I’m… I’m losing my mind. Every day I’m just…”

“You’re distracting her,” Anthony interrupted.

“I’m distracting her,” Matt repeated grimly. “That’s great. That’s wonderful.”

“No,” Anthony said quickly. “It is. It is great. And wonderful. I never thought it would work so well. And it is. Before… before she was obsessed. Ms. Yi was here two or three times a day. Now, I haven’t seen her but once this week. It’s great.”

“Great,” Matt echoed.

“It’s not just for me,” Anthony said, sensing the other man’s annoyance. “She’s distracted from them too. From your friends. From Dr. Suresh. From Ms. Bennet. She hasn’t been to visit them at all. She’s no longer even worried about a cure. Ms. Yi is so distracted by you that she hasn’t --”

Anthony stopped suddenly as if he’d feared he’d said too much.

“But how does this help?” Matt asked, exasperated by situation. A situation he had so little control over that it was becoming unbearable.

“I… I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“Because she could find out. She could look. She could see it. She…”

“I’ve been careful so far,” Matt returned. “I’ve been keeping her out of specific memories and thoughts…”

“I’m sorry. I can’t. I can’t let you know. I can’t trust…”

“You can’t trust me?” asked Matt in shock. “Me? After everything I’ve done just on your word? After…”

“She could pull it from your head. She’d see the change. She’d see the… the…”

“Hope?”

“Yes. Ms. Yi would see it and wonder at it. I can’t tell you. I can’t.”

“So this goes on forever?” Matt asked no one in particular. “This just… It just goes on and on until…”

“It will end.”

“Maybe for you it will,” Matt returned. “But even if I do finish this for you. Even if I do kill her like you think I’m supposed to, this isn’t going to be over for me. Not now. Not ever.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Matt said, trying to shake off the feeling of dread that was swiftly overcoming him. “I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to go along with you. You might not have told me the details, but I knew enough.”

“It is working,” Anthony said, trying his best to reassure him. “It is. The end… The end is coming.”

“If you say so.”

****

“Do you think she’s getting careless?”

Claire looked at Nathan and shrugged, not entirely certain what he meant by it.

“Really,” Nathan continued. “Is it a good idea to let a man who could fly out to exercise?”

“It would be a good idea for her to have given us some jackets,” Mohinder returned. “It’s freezing.”

“She probably just thinks the inhibitor will keep you from getting too far,” Claire answered, rubbing her arms and trying to not to think about how cold it really was. Not that she was complaining. It was nice to be outside of that prison, even if it was just for half an hour every other day.

“Or the guards,” Mohinder added, jerking his head to the left and indicating the two men who stood nearby with rifles.

“They’re not even paying attention to us,” Nathan said. “And there used to be four of them.”

Mohinder nodded in agreement; he’d noticed as well.

“I think,” Nathan went on, “that Ms. Yi is neglecting us.”

“You miss her conversations?” Claire asked.

“That’s not…” Mohinder began, stopping to ensure they were indeed out of hearing range. “That’s not what he means. Think, Claire. No one has been making me go to that lab anymore. The plague, the cure… it used to be the only thing she cared about. She was obsessed. Now…”

Mohinder trailed off with a shrug.

“Do you think she’s worked a deal?” she asked, shuffling her feet and stealing a glance at the cellblock she knew housed Anthony.

“Or,” Nathan supplied, “she’s found a cure on her own.”

“I don’t think she could do that,” Mohinder returned. “She had no one on her staff that knew anything about genetics. That’s why she took me.”

Claire continued shifting her attention anywhere and everywhere but at the two men beside her, her eye momentarily caught by some slight movement on the other side of the fence; just the rustling of the bushes on a windy day.

“What can we do about it?” Claire asked. “Either way, it’s not like…”

“We can escape,” Nathan interrupted.

“You can’t be serious,” Mohinder flatly stated.

“I think I can fly the two of you out of here,” Nathan went on, an eager look in his eyes.

“Now I know you aren’t serious,” Mohinder said, turning away and shaking his head.

“I am.”

“That’s crazy,” said Claire.

“That’s suicide,” corrected Mohinder.

“No,” Nathan said, “just listen to me. Next time we’re brought out here, we wait until Bob and his friend over there start talking, taking their smoke break, and then we go.”

“Just like that?” Mohinder asked.

“Yes,” Nathan answered. “I can do this. I know I can beat this inhibitor. I’ve done it before.”

“Four feet off the ground,” Mohinder argued, trying hard not to raise his voice. “Not over a twelve-foot high fence carrying two people.”

“I’d say it’s more like ten.”

“Shut up,” Mohinder snapped. “That’s not the point. The point is that whether it’s ten or twelve or two feet off the ground, it’s not going to work. Those aren’t the only guards around this place. This compound is very well guarded. We’d be shot out of the sky. And, you don’t know if you can even do it. And if you did, where would we go? What would we do next? Back to Boston? Back on the run? What, Nathan?”

“We can worry about step two after we complete step one,” Nathan fired back in equally hushed tones. “But step one has to be escape. We cannot stay here. That woman is unstable and if she’s worked a deal or found a cure on her own, we are useless to her. Jenny Yi discards what is not useful. Do you understand that?”

“I know, I know,” Mohinder said rapidly. “I’m… I know we can’t stay here, but we can’t rush into a half-baked plan of action either. We need to think this out. To think this through.”

Nathan nodded slowly, reluctant to agree but at least seeing Mohinder’s point of view, before turning his attention back to Claire.

“What do you think?”

Claire looked at him sternly before shaking her head.

“I’m not leaving Matt.”

Nathan started to speak again but Claire quickly cut him off.

“You two can make all the plans you want,” she continued with a fierce determination, “but unless they include getting Matt out of here as well, then don’t bother to include me. I am not going to leave him behind again.”

Claire turned and walked away a few paces, trying to collect herself and leaving Mohinder and Nathan to stare at one another; both of them knowing that as unlikely as it was for the three of them to escape, escaping with Matt, who was presumably under Jenny’s thumb, was going to be impossible.

But she meant it.

Claire was not going to leave him behind again. Whatever horrible things he may say, whatever awful things Jenny was making him do, it didn’t matter. She knew who he really was and if the situation was reversed Claire knew that Matt would do the same for her.

She owed it to him.  



	16. Revelations

  
**Chapter 18: Three**

Three days passed before Peter was allowed to see Lauren again, and when he was finally allowed back he was accompanied by Dr. Hahn. He knew why. Linderman and Hahn both suspected who she really was and therefore were purposely keeping them apart. But there was more to it than he suspected.

“What did you do to her?” he asked, turning angrily on the man beside him.

“Just a routine procedure,” Hahn said, casually waving an arm in Lauren’s direction.

“What for?” Peter asked, trying hard to reign himself in. “It looks as if you’ve…”

“We don’t beat women here, Mr. Petrelli.”

“You just hit them.”

“An unfortunate necessity at the time,” Hahn countered, writing something on Lauren’s chart.

She hadn’t moved since they’d arrived.

“We had to probe her brain,” the doctor went on. “Since neither of you were willing to tell us her exact ability, we had to discover it for ourselves. As you were briefed, the procedure is rather painful.”

Peter stared down at Lauren’s bruised and swollen face, hoping she was at least not still in any pain but doubting even that.

“Ms. Taylor’s gift is not wholly unique,” Dr. Hahn said, “but the manifestation…”

“This isn’t Lauren Tay…”

“Mr. Petrelli,” the other man interrupted with the air of a parent addressing a pertinent child. “Please. This charade is fooling no one. We know that this is Lauren Taylor. We know because of her documented ability and appearance and we know because of her genetic make-up, which is decidedly different from yours and the countless others we have processed through this laboratory. Please. Let’s end this now. You can’t help her this way.”

Peter said nothing, not wanting confirm it and not willing to stay silent if it meant Lauren’s continued mistreatment.

“Talk to her,” Hahn advised. “Better yet, talk to us. Do you know how she first manifested? When? Why?”

Peter shook his head silently; honestly.

He didn’t know. Peter really didn’t know Lauren at all, not well at least. He knew that she was closest to Hiro and Ando. He knew that she’d been in Boston when they’d arrived. And Peter knew that she hardly spoke unless she had a real need to.

He knew nothing of her past. Absolutely nothing.

“Is she alone?”

Peter turned towards Hahn, surprised.

“How would I know that?”

“I’m sure you have ways of getting answers,” Hahn said cryptically.

“When?” Peter returned. “I haven’t even had the chance to talk to her alone.”

“Mr. Petrelli,” Dr. Hahn said, sighing and shaking his head. “We both know that there are other ways for you to have a conversation.”

Shaking his head, Peter turned away again. They were using Matt’s telepathy, it was the only explanation. They’d somehow figured out a way to read thoughts having duplicated the power from Matt when he’d been held here the year before.

Whether it was confined to a room or a machine, he couldn’t tell, but that hadn’t been a random guess. Peter realized that they had heard him pass information to Lauren. That they had heard his own internal monologue, possibly even her own, and that had given them both away. That’s why they’d been so certain Lauren really was Lauren.

The real question was, how effective was it?

Where was it?

Because, it was obvious that they didn’t know everything yet; that they suspected that some communication had slipped by them. If it really worked so well, they’d know Peter was feigning compliance.

Then again, maybe they did know and were just stringing him along.

It was mind numbing and making him paranoid and Peter knew he had to get a grip quickly.

No wonder Matt hated his telepathy.

“Is she alone?” Dr. Hahn repeated.

“Not with us in the room.”

“Mr. Petrelli….”

“I don’t know.”

“And if you had to guess?”

“It would be just that,” Peter said. “A guess.”

“I see,” Dr. Hahn said, sounding disappointed.

“I’ll talk to her,” Peter added. “If that’s what you want. I’ll ask, but I’ll only do it alone. Just me and her.”

Dr. Hahn mulled it over for a minute before nodding briskly.

“She should be waking up shortly,” he said, heading towards the exit. “Take all the time you need. Simply knock on the door when you are through.”

Peter nodded, knowing it wasn’t much of a bargain. The rooms were all monitored and their every move would be watched, but it was a chance he had to take. He had to risk that they couldn’t always hear what they were thinking, or couldn’t always hear it well. Peter had to. There was nothing else he could do.

And beside that, there were other ways around Primatech’s interference if Lauren was up to it. If she was, it would be the last time they underestimated her.

“Find out about her ability,” Hahn instructed. “Find out why she’s here.”

Peter nodded again, playing along for the time being.

Dr. Hahn gave him an obnoxious smile just as he left and Peter couldn’t help but hate the smug bastard. Hoping if they could hear his thoughts that they would pick that one up.

Roughly ten minutes later Lauren began to stir uncomfortably in her sleep.

She sat up, coughing harshly, and jumping at the sight of Peter in the room with her.

“What…”

“Here,” Peter said, pouring some water into a glass for her. “Sip this. Carefully.”

“Thank you,” she returned, taking the drink and staring back at him uncertainly.

“They know,” he stated as he took a seat in the chair beside her bed.

“Know what?”

“Who you are, Lauren,” Peter answered.

She didn’t react, didn’t respond in the least; she only continued to sip her water. The only sign she’d heard Peter at all was the slight shake of the glass within her hands.

“What did they do to me?”

“I’m not really sure,” Peter said. “They said they were determining what you do.”

“It feels more like they gave me a lobotomy,” Lauren returned, gently touching the bridge of her nose.

“You still sound alright.”

Lauren laughed weakly.

“They want me to ask you some questions.”

“I won’t answer them,” she said, looking up significantly.

“We might not get another chance to talk,” Peter replied, also significantly.

Lauren nodded slowly, understanding what he meant. There were things she needed to tell him and probably things he needed for her to know as well, but it was nothing Primatech could be told. And as long as they were inside, Primatech would find out.

 _‘Give them a demonstration,’_ Peter put into her head.

Lauren looked at him clearly uncertain.

“Can you?” he asked, looking up at the ceiling briefly as she had moments before.

“I can’t guarantee…”

“I’ll back you up,” Peter interrupted, sensing that it had to be now or it would probably be never.

Lauren gave him a small smile as she clenched her fists in anticipation.

“Here goes nothing,” she whispered.

Her first attempt failed. Peter saw the field flicker briefly around them, nearly encasing the entire room before ultimately dying out.

He didn’t want to rush her, or distract her, but Peter knew that whoever was watching them at that moment had probably hit the panic button. The guards would be upon them momentarily.

Lauren’s second attempt was stronger than the first, but still not stable. It was smaller this time, just capturing half the room in a clear dome of blue light. The field held for several seconds before ultimately dying off.

The door was now opening. Men were rushing in, yelling orders and brandishing guns.

“Lauren,” Peter said warningly, but there was no need.

He watched transfixed as the two nearest men bounced off a now solid field around just Peter and Lauren. There was no sound, absolutely no sound coming through. And, unlike the other fields she’d produced in the past, this one was not clear. This would be their one and only chance to speak unheard and unobserved.

“Quick,” Lauren said, her voice tense. “I can’t do this long. I…”

“Who’s with you?”

“Hiro, D.L. and Micah,” Lauren answered.

“Only?”

“We’re all that’s left. The night they took you, the Order killed everyone. Everyone, Peter. It’s just us. The whole colony…”

“What about Claire? What about Nathan?” Peter asked, clearly confused. “They told me…”

“Jenny Yi,” Lauren confirmed with a nod. “Micah saw them taken. Matt and Mohinder, too.”

“Why?”

“We don’t know.”

“And you came here?” Peter returned, frustrated. “Why didn’t you go after them? Why…”

“Audrey,” Lauren interrupted, beginning to feel drained. “Project Genesis. We knew that if they took you… She said they were triggering people. That they were looking for powers.”

“I know,” Peter said. “I know. But…”

“If they took you, then they took Claire’s gift,” Lauren explained quickly. “We had to try here first. We had to try and stop them.”

Peter nodded, knowing that they’d made the only choice they could at the time.

“Is it true?” Lauren asked. “The experiments? Did they…”

“Yes,” Peter answered, half-truthfully. “Some of it. They triggered people before New York. A few evolved on their own. Lots after. Lots like…”

“Me?” Lauren asked, and she looked afraid.

“Not a lot like you, if they’re telling me the truth.”

Lauren shuddered and the field shimmered, allowing them both to briefly catch a glimpse of their surroundings.

“I can’t hold it much longer,” she said in one long shuddery breath.

“Let me then,” Peter said as he took hold of her wrist and concentrated as hard as he could.

Once more the wall around them grew solid and soundproof.

“Thanks,” said Lauren, sounding stronger.

“We won’t have much longer,” Peter told her. “They’ll bring in better inhibitors. Stronger ones and, I know, after this they won’t let us talk again.”

“We have to get out of here, Peter,” Lauren said. “We can’t stay. This may be our only chance. It will probably be the last time they leave us together again. It has to be now.”

“I don’t think…” Peter began doubtfully.

“I saw you rip apart a building,” Lauren interrupted, clearly disappointed by his reaction. “If you can’t break out of here, no one can. And if we don’t try right now, we never will.”

“Lauren, it’s not that easy…” Peter tried again.

“I let them capture me so that I could help you,” she went on, Peter noticing that as her agitation increased the dome around them grew brighter and began to slowly expand outwards. “This is it. The only plan. I get to you and then we get out. It’s the only way, Peter. No one is coming in after us. No one.”

He nodded, wanting to reassure her without really knowing how. Part of him realized she was right, that this was their only shot at freedom. But another part, the part he tried not to listen to, didn’t want to go. That part still wanted answers and the only way he’d get them was by staying.

“Peter?” Lauren called out, pulling his focus back.

There was still so much he didn’t know.

“Are we doing this or not?”

Peter concentrated on the field he was helping Lauren maintain. He could almost feel the guards on the other side, trying hard to get in at them. He knew that as soon as the field dropped, as soon as the dome was gone, both he and Lauren were going to be swarmed. Whatever he decided, whether he chose to stay or go, what happened next would be crucial to their survival.

“Peter?” Lauren repeated, her nerves so raw that the field around them began to pop with static energy.

“We’ll go on three.”  



	17. Revelations

  
**Chapter 19: Two**

“They want to make a deal,” Jenny said smoothly, barely lifting her eyes to meet his own. “Just for the two of them. They have one Petrelli, but what they really want is a complete set.”

“What are they offering you in return?” Matt asked, mostly because he had to.

“Immunization,” she answered, shifting the papers before her unnecessarily.

“And you believe them?”

“Of course not,” Jenny scoffed. “They’re liars. Convincing, but liars nevertheless. But…”

“You’re still considering it,” he finished for her.

“It is tempting,” she admitted as she leaned back in her chair, the very chair that once belonged to Nathan Petrelli when he was running the show around here. “Very tempting. It would bring down their guard. Make them wonder if I didn’t already have my own cure. Plus, best of all, I’d be rid of those two.”

“Then do it.”

“You don’t mind?” she asked, leaning forward once more and giving him a harsh stare.

“Does it matter if I do?”

Jenny clicked her tongue impatiently; it had been like this for days now. Ever since Matt had returned from his last talk with Anthony something was different. He seemed defeated. Lethargic. Matt just didn’t seem to care one way or another what happened to anyone, least of all to himself.

Jenny preferred him fighting.

“I could call now,” Jenny said after a lengthy pause, reaching for the phone. “It’s been awhile since the offer was made, but I’m sure it’s still good. Plus, I’ll still have Dr. Suresh and the samples he’s taken from Claire. That should be enough for him to do something with. That should be all he needs.”

Matt said nothing, just watched as her hand hovered over the receiver.

“I’ll do it,” she threatened.

He only shrugged and gestured vaguely for her to go ahead.

“What is wrong with you?” she asked, slapping her hand down on the desk. “Don’t you believe me? Don’t you think I…”

“I think you’re lying,” he calmly interrupted.

“Am I?” she shrieked, snatching the phone up and dialing furiously. “We’ll see if I am, won’t we? We’ll see…”

Matt watched as Jenny dramatically got up and walked across the room with the phone pressed to her ear. She was bluffing and he knew it. Holding Claire and Nathan was the last bit of power she had over Primatech, the only bit, and there was no way she’d hand them over so easily. And, even if she did, they’d probably be better off there then here. If he really thought she was serious, Matt would try and convince her to trade Mohinder off as well. Jenny’s behavior and mood swings were becoming increasingly erratic with each passing day, something Matt was thankful that only he had to witness. So far.

Jenny put the phone down at her side, turning back to him clearly disappointed.

“Aren’t you going to stop me?”

“From what?” he asked, gently rolling his eyes. “I know you’re not going to do it.”

“Did he tell you that?” Jenny asked, serious and sounding deadly.

“Anthony?” Matt questioned. “No. No, Anthony didn’t say anything about this or any other conversation we’ve had or will have. I just know, Jenny. You’re not desperate. You don’t need to trade them, so you won’t.”

“You’ve got me all figured out,” she returned, her manner suddenly changed. “Don’t you, Matthew.”

“Don’t call me that,” he returned irritably, Jenny finally getting under his skin again. “And yes, I think I do have you figured out.”

“Then tell me about myself,” she urged, sitting down in the armchair reserved for less formal visits and motioning for him to follow. “Tell me what you know.”

“All I meant,” Matt said, reluctantly moving to sit across from her, “is that I know you’d do what was in your best interests. And, right now, your best interests include keeping Claire and Nathan out of Primatech’s grasp.”

“You think I’m self-serving?”

“I know you are.”

“Do you think I’m selfish?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm,” she said, shaking her head slightly as if disliking his obvious disapproval.

After a long pause, Jenny picked up the phone and dialed again.

“What are you doing?” Matt asked.

“I’m calling Linderman,” she said as she put the receiver to her ear. “You’re right. I am selfish. It’s time I gave back.”

“Jenny…”

She quickly shushed him, mouthing the words, ‘it’s ringing’ as she listened intently to the line.

Matt felt suddenly panicked. Having no idea what or how Anthony’s mythical ending was to occur, he realized he might have just inadvertently changed things again. Revised the draft, as Anthony would say; remembering that the key to this all was to make Jenny forget about her plans, not carry them out.

He had to stop her.

“Jenny,” Matt said, louder this time; more agitated than before. “Don’t. Don’t…”

“I’m busy,” she chastised lightly, standing and moving across the room.

Matt got up and followed her.

“What?” she asked, smiling playfully. “Do you want to make the deal yourself?”

“Give me the phone.”

“No.”

“You can’t do this.”

Jenny laughed briefly, before growing serious and saying, “Mr. Linderman, it’s Jenny Yi,” into the receiver. “I wanted to discuss your offer…”

Matt grabbed the phone from her hand and hung it up, staring down at her with a renewed hatred.

She only laughed in response.

“I was joking,” she said as soon as she was able. “Only joking. I got a busy signal. He’s on another call. Don’t you have a sense of humor?”

“Stop it.”

“Fine,” she said, taking the phone back and returning to the armchair she’d previously occupied. “Fine. You’re no fun, Matthew. You used to be, but now…”

“And stop calling me that,” he repeated, taking his appointed seat as well. “No one calls me that.”

“No one but your mother, right?” Jenny returned with a wicked smile, her spirits lifted by his irritation. “Tragic. My mother died when I was seven, too. We’re very alike, you and I.”

“No we’re not,” Matt countered. “And you’re a liar. Your mother didn’t die.”

“I’m sure she’s dead by now,” Jenny laughed harshly. “California is a wasteland. Didn’t happen soon enough, if you ask me. However she went, I hope it was painful.”

Matt shook his head, not wanting to revisit Jenny and all of her issues.

“Just because your dearly departed mother was a saint, Matthew, doesn’t mean everyone else’s was,” Jenny said defensively, taking his silence as a form of disapproval. “My mother was a bitch who only taught me one thing: the only person who will look out for you is you. She certainly never cared for me. She didn’t love me. No one has ever looked out for me.”

Matt held his tongue. Anything he said now would just be turned against him or misconstrued.

“Do you know what that’s like?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“No you don’t,” Jenny fired back. “You say you do, but you don’t really.”

“Fine,” Matt said with as much neutrality as he could manage.

Not wanting to, but unable to stop himself, a memory came to mind; one he knew she’d pounce on but Matt couldn’t help it. Jenny tried to justify her actions, her selfishness, by bringing up the abuses of her past. She was hardly the first person to do so; Matt had met hundreds like her in his previous life as a cop. And he’d always been empathetic as a cop, knowing that sometimes circumstances have a lot more to do with why people commit acts of crime than actual evil intentions do.

But that empathy only lasted up until a point. At some time or another everyone has a choice in who they become.

“Oh,” Jenny said, an evil glint in her eyes. “You haven’t had it easy either, have you? I guess I’m so selfish and self-involved that I forget that your daddy dropped you off with your aunt and was done with you a year after your mother died, right? What did he call you, again? What were his last words to you? Something about being stupid and weak, I think. A nuisance. A waste. Something close to that I’m sure.”

“Yes, well,” Matt said, with more forced calmness, “the difference between you and me is that I’ve gotten over it.”

“Have you?” Jenny questioned back. “Have you really? Because, I don’t think you have. I think that your whole truth and honest and integrity, blah, blah, blah, is a result of it. That you feel that because your father was a drunken rat-bastard, you’ve got to go out of your way to prove you’re not him.”

“What? Did you major in psychology?”

“Am I getting close?”

“No.”

“I think I am,” Jenny returned, still smiling. “In fact, I think that the whole reason you stayed with your cheating whore of a wife is because she was the first person, other than your dear, dead mom, to actually pretend to love you. And if you left her, you’d be alone. And if you were alone, daddy would be right about you. Am I closer now?”

Matt shook his head, trying to pretend he was unaffected by her words.

“That maybe,” she continued, “just maybe, you thought there was something wrong with you. That on the inside, you believed him. You believed what your dad had said, and that no one would want to love someone like you. That no one could.”

Matt remained silent, refusing to reply this time or to avert his eyes from hers. Jenny was racing through his memories; he could feel her inside his head ripping and shredding and pulling up all sorts of things he’d always tried to forget. All the things she was saying weren’t things he’d necessarily thought himself, but they were close enough to be disturbing. True enough to be upsetting.

He couldn’t stop her. Jenny was in complete control, just as she always liked to be.

“And then Janice died, much like your mother. Everyone you love seems to die and there’s never anything you can do about it,” Jenny went on, enjoying herself more and more with every uttering. “So you begin to imagine that that is just how it is, and then there was Claire. Claire who annoyed you at first, who you disliked because she reminded you of all your failings. She reminded you that you couldn’t fix everything; that you couldn’t fix anything. She made you remember it. She made you think to yourself that maybe you were all those things your father told you you were.”

Matt shook his head, almost as if he was having a slight seizure; the images in his mind racing from one to the next. Old thoughts, long forgotten, were being pulled forth with ease. Images of that first year, that year of dread and terror and disquiet between them that gradually removed, only to be replaced with something Matt still didn’t fully understand.

“Claire,” Jenny repeated distastefully. “Claire, who should have been like a godsend to you, because she can’t die. Finally, a person who you could love and she’d never leave you, right? She’d never have to, but that’s terrifying. It’s terrifying to you because you think that if she doesn’t die, she’ll just move on and that’s somehow worse. It has to be worse to watch someone you love stop loving you and go on with their life, isn’t it? Like Janice. Is that how it happened? She fell out of love with you but you couldn’t move on. Or like Audrey. With Audrey it was over before it had even begun. You found out she hadn’t cared enough to even wait…”

Jenny stopped at the realization. She stopped talking and she stopped pouring through his memories, aghast at what she’d found.

“You knew,” she finally said quietly, narrowing her eyes angrily.

“I…”

“You knew!” she yelled, jumping to her feet. “How? How did you do it? How did you keep it from me? How?”

“I don’t know what…”

“Stop lying!” she shrieked, leering down on him. Neither tall nor particularly intimidating, her anger was frighteningly real and Matt couldn’t help but recoil at its display. “You knew about the two of them. I saw it. I saw you tell her in your memories. Just now, I saw you telling Claire. You knew about Audrey and Mohinder and yet…”

Jenny stopped again, turning from him and pacing the room with heavy breaths.

“How did you do it?” Jenny asked, quietly restrained but just as angry as before. “How did you trick me, Matt?”

“I didn’t trick you?”

“Why did you trick me, Matt?” she asked through clenched teeth.

“I don’t know…”

“What’s going on? What are you up to? What else are you keeping from me?”

“How could I keep anything…”

“Stop it,” she said sharply, cutting across his reply. “Just stop. You don’t want to tell me, fine. That’s fine. I know how to make you talk. I know… I know what I need to do.”

“Jenny,” Matt tried, his head still fuzzy from her recent invasion, but thinking clear enough to know he had to try and stop her. “I’m not keeping anything from you. I don’t know what you think you saw, but it’s not… It’s not…”

His head pounding, Matt couldn’t think of anything to say or do to persuade her. He was caught in a lie and he knew it. He’d slipped up and Jenny had seen the truth; she’d seen that Matt had known about Mohinder and Audrey and now she suspected other more elaborate deceptions.

“No,” Jenny said dismissively. “You’ve already made it perfectly clear that you will not answer me. You’ve already refused to tell me the truth, so I’m forced to find it somewhere else.”

“No,” Matt said quickly, shaking his head. “I’ll tell you. I will, I just need…”

“Too late,” Jenny said, heading for the door. “It’s time Claire and I had a little chat, you know, just the two of us.”

“No,” he pleaded with her. “Don’t… Don’t do this.”

Matt got to his feet, still shaking, but was quickly confronted by two of Jenny’s personal guards. He could hear her thoughts clearly and it only served to make him sicker, more agitated and enraged than before.

“Take him to the observation room,” Jenny said to one of the guards, no longer paying any attention to Matt. “I’m sure he’ll want to see this.”

“Please,” Matt called out after her. “Jenny, please don’t do this! Don’t!”

With that last word, that last thought pushed into her head, Jenny turned on the spot to face him once more. Shaking her head, clearly caught off guard, Matt hoped he’d succeeded. He hoped that she’d heed the instruction and not do the horrible things he’d heard her planning to do in order to exact revenge upon him.

“Why shouldn’t I?” Jenny finally asked, coming back around to her senses. “After this? After what you’ve done? Why should I let either of you live?”

“Fine,” he said, shaking his head, the two men beside him now having to physically restrain him from stepping forward. “Just me, then. Don’t. Don’t blame her. I’m the one… I’m the one who did this. Me. If you want… just, kill me. Do whatever you want to me, just please… please don’t…”

“Aw,” she returned, her demeanor softening as she walked back over to him and leaned in close. Whispering in his ear as her hand caressed his cheek. “That’s so sweet.”

Jenny leaned back again to look him in the eyes and her expression immediately hardened.

Slapping him hard across the face, her smile vanished completely.

“And I thought you had me all figured out.”  



	18. Revelations

  
**Chapter 20: One**

“You’re early,” Nathan said, not bothering to look up from the book he was reading. “Dinner isn’t for another hour.”

“Get up.”

His attention caught, Nathan turned just as the guard began to walk towards Claire.

“What’s going on here?” Nathan asked, getting quickly to his feet.

“Sit down, Petrelli,” Bob the guard said from the doorway.

The other guard had already reached Claire by this time, taking hold of her roughly be the forearm.

“Let go of me,” she snapped, trying to wiggle free from the man who was easily a foot taller than she was and at least twice her weight.

“Yes,” Nathan seconded, sounding angry. “Let go of her.”

“Sit down,” Bob barked, his hand moving to rest near the baton strapped to his waist.

“What’s happening?” Mohinder asked, just joining them from one of the bedrooms.

“Back inside,” Bob said, never taking his eyes off of Nathan. “And I’m not going to repeat myself, Petrelli. I told you to sit down.”

Mohinder took a small step backwards, but did not shut the door; startled to see the guard who had Claire begin to pull her towards the main door.

Nathan, unmoved despite Bob’s orders, looked mutinous.

“Where are you taking her?” Mohinder asked, nervously looking from Bob to Nathan and back again.

“That’s none of your business,” the first guard said, pushing Claire out the door with such ferocity that they could hear her hit the floor outside.

That did it for Nathan.

With surprising speed Nathan lunged for Bob. His hands were almost on the other man’s throat when he suddenly stopped and fell to the floor.

Bob hadn’t been readying his baton, he’d been keying in the combo for Nathan’s inhibitor.

Racked with pain, Nathan couldn’t move.

“Don’t do it, Suresh,” Bob said, his eyes barely leaving Nathan as he spoke.

Mohinder, without realizing it, had come several feet into the room in an involuntary effort to help.

Once he was certain neither Mohinder nor Nathan were going to advance further, Bob shut them back inside and locked the door, joining Claire and the other guard in the hallway.

“Where are you taking me?” Claire asked, trying hard to not fall apart.

“To have a chat,” Bob answered, taking Claire by her free arm and walking briskly down the hall.

“Yeah,” the other guard laughed, enjoying the chaos a bit too much, “you’re going to have a nice little one-on-one. It’s going to be a real treat, I guarantee…”

“Enough,” Bob said, stopping the other man out cold.

Claire wasn’t surprised to see where they were headed, but she still couldn’t understand why.

Unless, of course, Jenny had caught wind of their escape plans. That could be it. It could also be that she’d decided to make a deal with Primatech. The three of them had been discussing that possibility earlier. It was likely, but none of them had considered it as probable.

Or Jenny could have just decided she was sick of having Claire around.

With Matt willingly at her command there was no reason to keep her.

It was another possibility they’d all considered, Claire especially.

Once, at their final destination, Bob opened the door to the all-too-familiar interrogation room and pulled a chair out for Claire, motioning for her to have a seat.

It had been a few years, but Claire remembered the place. It was the very same room she’d been taken to the first time the Order had captured her. The very place she’d become reacquainted with Nathan.

She hated this room.

Facing forward and staring into what had to be a two-way mirror, Claire shifted uncomfortably as Bob and not-Bob left her alone.

Even though she could only see reflection, she imagined that Jenny Yi was on the other side smiling and enjoying her discomfort. Waiting; dragging out the inevitable.

Claire was ready for what was about to happen. She was ready for the worst, she had to be. Memories of the last time Jenny Yi had mentally assaulted her sprang to mind and Claire quickly quelled them.

It was better not to think about it.

Taking a deep breath, she shut her eyes and tried to relax.

That’s when the door opened.

“Hi, Claire.”

She turned in surprise; her heart dropping into her stomach as she shook here head slightly from side to side.

Despite her silent promises to herself that she would remain strong, Claire already felt the tears begin to well up.

She should have known.

Claire should have known that it wouldn’t be Jenny this time.

She should have known Jenny would send Matt in her place.

****

Anthony looked out the window of his room, his makeshift home, and watched the clouds as they gathered in the sky. The sun had just begun to set and he knew that the storm that was approaching would be a bad one.

All the better.

They were going to need all the help they could get.

 _‘This is it,’_ he thought to himself.

The end was really going to happen.

Anthony had doubted; he had doubted it would really take place, but it was really happening. It was really going to be over soon.

He couldn’t help but feel the slightest pang of guilt about his own part in it all. At how he had manipulated the events to suit his own needs, but Anthony knew it wasn’t just him who would be benefited. He wasn’t just doing it for himself.

Not entirely.

The end, the real end of this nightmare of an existence, would be something for them all to be happy about.

He’d hoped and hoped for this one moment, and finally…

The cost would be high, some would never forgive him for what he’d done, but it would be worth it.

All Anthony had to do now was wait and watch.

He had everything he needed; he was ready.

It was time.

****

It was slow work, putting together a plan of action, but they were making real progress. And in reality, it wasn’t so much the fact that they needed a plan, they simply needed the opportunity and the nerve.

None of them were cowards, but the odds were definitely not in their favor. Three men against an armed fort was not the kind of thing you jumped into without a lot of thought.

The plan was that they would first take out the southeast tower housing one of the four main inhibitors. From a secure distance Micah had successfully stalled it several times, allowing each of them greater access to their powers. Once they had that one taken down, Micah would take over their entire system.

With Micah running the system, things would be much easier.

Micah would take out all of the building’s inhibitors, alarms and electricity. Then Hiro and D.L. would enter the building together. Inside they would find and retrieve both Lauren and Peter.

With that done, they’d return to Micah and all of them would then make their way to the car they had stolen and hidden not far off just for that reason.

It was a simple plan that could go horribly wrong, but what else could they do?

This was their one shot.

“When do we do it?”

Hiro took his eyes off of the building to look at D.L. It was the very question they’d all been asking themselves since the plan had been realized. The one no one had a definite answer to.

“The sooner the better,” he advised.

D.L. nodded but continued to look grave.

“If you don’t want…” Hiro began, but the look he received in return quieted all his doubts.

“We’re doing this,” D.L. said quickly. “There’s no walking away now. I’m not sure there ever was a time we could.”

Hiro nodded, understanding that feeling well; that feeling that destiny had brought them here.

“I’m just worried there never will be a right time,” D.L. finally said. “We’ve known for a few days now what we should do, what we have to do. Hell, we’ve known that since we’ve been here but…”

“We’re still waiting,” Hiro provided.

“Yeah,” D.L. agreed. “We’re still waiting.”

The three men stood and stared at the building for another long moment.

“It just feels like we’re supposed to be watching for something,” D.L. finally added. “Doesn’t it? I’m not the only one that thinks that, am I?”

“No,” Micah said quickly.

Hiro only shook his head in response.

“But what?” D.L. asked. “What is it? I wish we’d just be given a sign or…”

Before D.L. could finish his remark a loud ‘boom’ reverberated from the Primatech building as nearly all of the windows on the ground floor simultaneously burst. It took a minute for anyone on the compound to do anything but stare, but soon enough dozens of armed men and women were racing around in a near frantic state; some were even openly fleeing the premise.

D.L. turned and looked at Hiro in a state of near complete disbelief.

“Dad,” said Micah. “I think you got your wish.”  



	19. Revelations

  
**Chapter 21: Fake**

“We’ll go on three,” Peter said.

Lauren nodded.

“Stay with me,” continued Peter. “Right with me. We’re two stories underground so we’ll need to move quickly. When we go, I want you to push this field out as far and as fast as you can. I’ll take care of anyone still standing. Alright?”

She nodded again but felt her stomach churn.

“We won’t kill unless we have to,” Peter added, sensing the reason behind her discomfort.

“Okay.”

“Ready?” Peter asked.

“Let’s just do it.”

“One. Two. Three.”

On three, Peter felt the connection he’d been maintaining with Lauren break as she sent the field around them soaring in all directions. The men they hadn’t seen surrounding them were knocked to the floor, momentarily stunned; the security glass in the observation window shattered; the contents of the room were flung to the wall and smashed to pieces.

It had gone no further.

The field had died inside the room, unable to get past the stronger inhibitors maintaining the rest of the building.

“I’m sorry,” Lauren said, nearly out of breath. “I…”

Peter only shook his head, not ready to give up yet.

“Out this way,” he urged, motioning to the observation window.

Lauren was ready to follow wherever he led, but felt helpless. She could already feel her powers slipping away even inside the room. Outside of it would be even worse. It took a few moments to maneuver their way through the window, but they still managed it rather quickly. Alarms were blaring and lights were flashing, but the halls themselves were empty; the sound of many fast footsteps approaching could just be heard in the distance.

Peter stopped and considered what to do next.

He could still access his powers; still feel them working inside of him, but what…

“Grab hold of my waist.”

“What?” Lauren asked, certain she’d heard him wrong.

“My waist,” Peter said urgently. “Quick. Stand as close to me as you can, I’m not sure I can control this one very well.”

Lauren complied, clasping her hands together across his stomach.

“Hold on tight,” said Peter.

Before Lauren could respond or even readjust her grip, a few men had rounded the corner ahead of them with weapons drawn.

Peter gave neither them nor Lauren any warning, just let loose an awful torrent of wind that rushed out all around him.

The men flew backwards a good twenty feet before hitting the wall behind them and collapsing to the floor.

Lauren let out an involuntary scream as her own feet left the floor, clutching Peter tighter and terrified of losing her grip.

The wind could be heard ripping through the building all around them, pouring down corridors and finally exiting in a boom above them accompanied by the sound of shattering glass.

As it finally stopped, Peter swayed heavily back onto Lauren.

“Sorry,” he said, panting for breath. “It’s harder with these damn inhibitors on. Takes more out of me, but that should do it for awhile. That should clear the way.”

“No, it’s great,” Lauren returned. “It is, but we should hurry. Which way is out?”

“Not yet,” Peter answered, still upright but not without support from Lauren. “First, we need to pick someone else up. They’ve got Franco’s daughter here, I saw her. We can’t leave her behind.”

“Alright,” Lauren said, stepping back as Peter now seemed capable of standing on his own.

“This way,” he motioned as he began a brisk walk down the corridor. “It shouldn’t take long. She’s not far from here.”

“Is there anyone else we should take with us? I’ve only seen you.”

“Sylar.”

“What?” Lauren asked, stopping abruptly.

“He’s here too,” Peter said, turning back to take her by the wrist so that they could continue on together. “We shouldn’t leave him either.”

“He’s a murderer.”

“He’s also powerful,” Peter returned. “Too powerful. He might be able to help us escape.”

“Why would he? Why…”

“We can’t leave him,” Peter interrupted. “I don’t like it either, but right now we need all the help we can get.”

“But…” Lauren said weakly, shaking her head and uncertain exactly how else she could argue against this idea. Not used to argue against any idea.

“They’ve kept him alive for a reason,” Peter continued. “It’s the same reason they’ve kept me alive; they want what we can do. As far as anyone knows, Sylar and I are the only two people in the world that can use another person’s power.”

“Yeah, Peter, but you don’t… you don’t do it like…you’re not him.”

“I know,” Peter said quietly, cautiously turning a corner and ensuring it was still safe. “I do. But that’s not the point. They don’t care what kind of person I am, or what he is either. This whole plan of theirs is flawed. They can bring out powers, they can sort of suppress them, and they can even build machines that duplicate them. But the one thing they still can’t do is take the power for their own. They can’t use the powers the way they were meant to be used and they can’t figure out how we do it either. We can’t let them do it. We have to stop it.”

“Peter,” Lauren said. “I don’t care what they’re doing here. I really don’t. I just want us all to go. We need to get as far away from this as we can. There’s no way…”

“There will never be anyplace safe enough if we let this go on.”

“Peter, please…”

“Lauren,” he said, stopping in the center of the hallway. “If they have Sylar, if we leave him behind, they might figure it out. They might find a way to make it work and we can’t let them do that. I know what he is. I know what he’s done. It’s not a matter of saving him; it’s a matter of saving all of us. If Primatech accesses his power, we won’t be able to stop them and we’ll never be able to get away again.”

“Okay,” she agreed after a long pause, understanding his point, “but can’t we… Do we have to take him with us? He’s the one. He killed Ando. He’s…”

Lauren wiped her eyes frantically, not wanting to break down but feeling close to doing so.

“I know what he’s done but we have to take him with us,” Peter said as kindly as he could. “There’s no other way.”

She nodded curtly, accepting it for the time.

“Don’t worry,” Peter said, hearing a bit of her uneasiness inside of his head. “I’ve got a plan.”

“I trust you,” Lauren returned, just as they stopped outside a large observation window similar to the one they’d used to escape her cell.

Peter made his way to the keypad outside her door as Lauren attempted to peer inside the darkened glass.

“Damn it,” Peter muttered, holding his hand to the mechanism. “How does Micah do this?”

“Peter?”

“Give me a second.”

“I don’t think anyone is in here.”

The door popped open just after she’d said it and Peter looked at her in surprise.

Pushing the door open, Peter tentatively stepped inside and took a look for himself. Flipping on the light switch, he quickly surveyed the room. Stephanie was gone.

“They’ve probably taken her to the lab,” Peter said, turning to go. “It’s the floor below us. It shouldn’t take…”

The sound of gunfire echoed down the hall. Hurrying to the doorway, Peter found Lauren just outside the room holding off the three guards who had snuck up on them with a force field that blocked their access entirely.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, but she didn’t seem to be able to hear him; she was too intent on what she was doing.

The guards fired a few more shots at the field without success, continuing to look for a way through it or around it. Concentrating as hard as he could, Peter tried to telekinetically knock the men over and hopefully unconscious, but found to his surprise that his power would not extend past the point of the field Lauren had created.

“Push it out,” he told her. “We’ve got to keep moving. The labs are below us; push out the field and… Lauren? Lauren!”

The field grew brighter and brighter, slowly expanding and cracking the walls it touched. The guards, witnessing this, turned around and ran in fear as the ceiling began to shake.

“Lauren!” Peter yelled once more, grabbing her by the wrist and trying to physically stop her from what she was about to do.

Gasping, she finally dropped the field, looking both confused and frightened.

“What did they do to me?” she asked quietly. “What… Did they do something? Did they make me...”

“I don’t know,” Peter answered honestly. “They told me they were just looking at your powers but they might have done more.”

“Why? Why would they do that?”

“Because they can,” Peter returned, realizing more and more how dangerous this place really was. How Primatech was playing God and not caring about the consequences. “They probably wanted to get the most out of what you can do before they duplicated it. Maybe…”

Peter stopped, realizing this wasn’t the time to stop and have this conversation, but it was too late.

“Maybe what?”

“Maybe they tried to trigger your gift,” Peter provided, knowing what he was saying would only create more questions than it answered. “Or see how…”

“Trigger? But I’m already… why? Why would they…”

“Lauren,” Peter interrupted. “We don’t have time for this right now. Let’s get to the lab and then… we might be able to find something there.”

Lauren nodded, used to following orders, but continued to look uneasy.

Peter led them quickly down the hall, back the way they’d come, and towards the staircase that led to the level below where the laboratory was at. Lauren followed him silently, but he could still hear her internal turmoil almost bubbling up past the breaking point.

She was worried and confused and wanted answers.

Peter did too.

They finally made their way down the stairs to the lowest level of the Primatech building; the laboratory.

The entire floor was filled with different rooms and strange equipment. All of it under lock and key. All of it seemingly deserted.

“Where do we start?” Lauren asked quietly.

Peter shrugged before going to the first door on his left.

He had no idea where to start; he remembered nothing of this room.

Once more using Micah’s powers to pop the lock, they were both inside in a matter of moments.

The room they’d entered was like some kind of technical headquarters. It was basically just two rows of computers, networked together along with a number of filing cabinets and nothing more.

“We should…” Lauren started to say, before realizing Peter was actually sitting down at the first terminal. “What are you doing?”

“Having a look at what they’re doing.”

“But…”

“It’ll only take a minute,” Peter said, already riffling through files at an incomprehensible speed.

He knew there were more pressing matters at hand, but he couldn’t help himself. Peter was tired of not knowing. He was tired of guessing and not understanding what was really happening, and he wanted answers.

Lauren shifted uneasily on her feet, straining to hear any sound of approaching guards.

“This is it,” Peter said, moving back to allow Lauren a look as well. “Their list. The list.”

“What does ‘First Wave’ mean?” she asked, unable to keep from looking despite her nerves.

“It’s what they call those of us that evolved or were helped to evolve prior to New York,” Peter answered, remembering well his conversation with Dr. Hahn about the subject.

“So few?”

“They told me that they had tried to keep it under a hundred.”

The list itself was very organized. It was alphabetical by last name, followed by a first name and even a middle initial. This was followed by either the word ‘natural’ or ‘triggered’ indicating how the person came into their powers and a brief description of what the power was, if known. After that was a last known city and state and a note of whether or not they had been tagged. Finally listed was if the person was still living or deceased.

There were definitely more than a hundred people on it.

Out of curiosity Peter clicked his own name and wasn’t altogether surprised to find a full profile on him come up.

It listed everything there was to know about him: who his parents were; where he was born; where he went to school. There was even a mention of the one traffic ticket he had gotten when he was only nineteen. His height and weight and general description given were also there, despite the fact that the profile even included a photo.

“When was that taken?” Lauren asked, hardly recognizing it as the same man that sat beside her.

“Nathan’s campaign,” Peter answered somewhat fondly. “They took all these pictures of the whole family for it… Feels like another life…”

Peter snapped out of his own thoughts and continued to scan the page for something more useful. There were recent notes added, footnotes really, indicating Peter’s last whereabouts and the addition of the scar that covered a good part of his face. There were also links to field and lab reports that Peter didn’t feel up to viewing. Not yet at least.

Returning quickly to the main list, Peter found his way to the second list; the ‘Second Wave’.

“According to Hahn,” Peter told her as they opened and reviewed it, “these are all the people who evolved or could have evolved after New York. This was their potential list before New York.”

On this list, after each name, instead of ‘natural’ or ‘triggered’ there was either written ‘natural’ meaning that the person had come into their powers or ‘unchanged’ meaning they had not.

Neither was surprised to find a majority of the colony’s members on the list, or that a majority of the list was also listed as ‘deceased’.

Peter, who’d been looking intently for Lauren’s name, hoping that Hahn had at least been lying about that, felt her eyes on him instead of the screen.

“I’m not there,” she said quietly.

“Hahn said you weren’t but…”

“I’m not…” she started, evidently having a hard time with it. “You might find a Lauren Taylor on this list, maybe even on the first one, but it wouldn’t be me. I’m not… I’m not really her.”

“It’s a fake,” he said, truly surprised. “Lauren’s not your real name?”

She shook her head slowly, looking down as she did so.

“Well then,” Peter said, willing to hold off asking other types of questions for the time being, “we can look for your real one and…”

“It’s not there either,” Lauren interrupted. “I did look. While you were looking… I looked and…”

Peter didn’t know what else to say.

Lauren sighed as she reached over and scrolled back up to nearly the top of the list.

“That…” she said, pointing at one name in particular from the list. “That’s my mother. I’m not there… it’s only her listed. Not me.”

Peter stared at the name of Holly Crammer, the list declaring her both ‘unchanged’ and ‘deceased’.

“I’m not there,” Lauren repeated.  



	20. Revelations

  
**Chapter 22: Evolution**

Lauren opened the profile and swallowed hard upon seeing her mother’s photograph staring back at her from the screen.

The photo was obviously scanned from a newspaper clipping, showing Mrs. Crammer at a groundbreaking ceremony for a local hospital in Boston.

“She did a lot of charity work,” Lauren said tightly, fighting hard not to let any unnecessary emotion slip into her voice. “That was taken about five years before… Before it all… God, it was ten years ago now. I can’t believe it’s been so long.”

“Is that you?” Peter asked, pointing to one of three young girls in the background; standing one beside another, each with their mother’s same dark hair.

“Yes,” Lauren nodded. “Me and my sisters.”

Peter’s eyes darted back up to Holly Crammer’s profile and noted that she had a husband, Phillip, deceased and three daughters: Ainsley, Lauren and Taylor. Only one daughter, only Ainsley, was listed as living.

“It wasn’t on purpose. I didn’t give myself a new name on purpose,” Lauren said, her head down to hide the fact that her eyes were full of tears. “I just… I took their names because I didn’t want to forget them. I didn’t want to forget them, but I didn’t want to be me anymore either.”

Peter said nothing. He just continued to look anywhere but at Lauren until she could compose herself. Not for the first time did Peter come to the realization that he knew almost nothing about the woman beside him and everything she’d been through to arrive at this point.

“Doesn’t really matter now, does it?” Lauren said quickly, moving from the profile back to the list and hastily scrolling down so that the name was no longer visible on the screen. “It doesn’t explain why… It doesn’t... Peter? Did you see this?”

“See what?” he asked, looking up again at the screen.

Lauren pointed out a name on the list and stared back at him, waiting for his reaction.

“This… This can’t be right,” Peter said, shaking his head slightly.

“Why else would he be there?”

“But he’s not… he’s…”

“He hasn’t evolved yet,” a new voice called out from behind them both.

Both Peter and Lauren jumped before wheeling around to face the good doctor.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Dr. Hahn said, holding his hands up to show he was unarmed. “I can’t. Given what the two of you can do together, what you’ve shown us you can do, I’d be foolish to try.”

Neither spoke; neither knew what to do.

“I’m sure you have lots of questions,” he continued, taking a bold step forward. “I can give you the answers you want. Anything at all.”

“We don’t want anything from you,” Peter returned, taking a step forward himself in preparation for whatever may come.

“Very well,” Hahn said, stopping in his tracks. “I just thought you, Peter, might want to know exactly who you are… um, associating with.”

As he spoke, Hahn’s eyes darted briefly to Lauren, and Peter couldn’t help but copy the movement.

“I know who my friends are here,” Peter said firmly.

“Do you?” asked Hahn, moving towards them once more. “Shall I show you?”

As Hahn advanced towards the computer, Peter and Lauren shuffled backwards out of his way.

“Do you remember the conversation we had, Peter?” Hahn continued to press, sitting boldly with his back to them both as he worked. “What I’d told you about the different waves of evolution?”

“Yes,” was all Peter would give in return.

“I told you that Ms. Taylor here was part of something new, something we did not expect,” Hahn continued as a new list came onto the screen, “although, perhaps we should have.”

The new list that Hahn had drawn up had only two names on it: Ainsley Crammer and Jin-Sook Yi.

“I suppose you recognize Ms. Crammer,” Hahn said, finally turning to them both and nodding significantly at Lauren as he spoke.

“Yes,” Peter said quickly, “but why a third list? Her mother was there, just like mine. If it’s genetic…”

“It is genetic. And there is a difference,” Hahn said, snapping for the first time. “Your father was also on the list, Peter. Her father was not. The gene, the active gene I should say, passes from father to child. Prior to all of this, only those who had a father with an ability could possibly expect to have one themselves. Having a mother pass the gene along, like your own did, certainly increased the chance of an evolution, but until Ms. Crammer here, no one with just a gene from their mother’s side had evolved. Not with our help and not on their own.”

“So there could be more.”

“There are,” Hahn confirmed as he clicked on the other profile link. “At least one more to be certain.”

Peter had seen that face before just one time; a face he knew he’d remember for the rest of his life.

“The leader of the Order,” Hahn said without any emotion. “Ms. Yi. The picture is rather old, but it is the best we have.”

The photo showed a much younger girl, probably around sixteen or seventeen, smiling cheerfully beneath the word: MISSING.

“You’ve tested her,” Peter stated, seeing the various reports listed under her profile.

“Yes,” answered Hahn with a nod. “About a year ago. It was right around the time she had brought us the Franco girl. I rather expect she showed up personally because of other tests we were running at the time.”

“You mean on Matt.”

Hahn didn’t answer, he only smiled.

“Peter,” Lauren said softly, hoping to remind him of why they were really here.

He nodded, understanding her plea. Still, it was hard to resist. They’d all wanted answers for so long, and finally they were getting them. He might tell Hahn he didn’t want anything from him, but it was far from the truth.

“A minute more and we’ll be done,” Hahn said, glance briefly at Lauren. “I’m sure you’ll want to take a look at your own record, won’t you Ainsley?”

“I don’t go by that anymore.”

“That’s right,” Hahn returned smoothly. “It’s Lauren now. Lauren Taylor. Interesting choice. Tell me, which of them died first?”

“What?” she asked, her voice quiet with shock.

“Your sisters,” Hahn repeated. “Which of them died first? We know your mother was killed in your home, but after that we have a bit of a hard time tracing you or them until you turned up at the colony two years ago.”

“That’s enough,” Peter protested loudly. “This has nothing…”

“Did you evolve protecting them or protecting yourself?” Hahn continued, ignoring Peter completely.

“I don’t… I…”

“Surely you remember.”

“Stop it,” Peter shouted.

“We have to know, Ainsley. We need to. It’s the only way to fully understand.”

“I don’t know… I don’t… I can’t…”

“I said stop,” Peter shouted once more, this time slamming his hand down on the CPU. As he did it, there was a flash of light and then the monitors all around them went dark.

“That was uncalled for,” Hahn said, his voice betraying no emotion whatsoever.

“Where are you keeping them?” asked Peter.

“Keeping them?”

“Stephanie Franco and Sylar,” he returned. “Where are they?”

“Why would you…”

“Where are they?” Peter interrupted, growing angrier by the second.

“Alright,” Hahn relented, getting to his feet. “I’ll take you to them. We can leave right now.”

“Good,” Peter urged, motioning towards the door and taking Lauren by the arm.

“But,” Hahn said, as he led the way down the corridor they had begun in, “I have to ask. How exactly do you think this is going to end? You can’t really believe that either I or Mr. Linderman is just going to let you walk out of here.”

Peter held his tongue, but loosened his grip on Lauren. She was still very shaken by what Hahn had said to her; frightened even. Peter had to hope she pulled herself together before it got really bad.

“Did either of your sisters…”

“Stop it,” Lauren hissed. “You have no right to ask that.”

Peter was relieved she no longer appeared shocked, only angry.

“But it’s fascinating,” the other man continued to goad.

“Fascinating?” Lauren repeated, her voice colder than before. “It’s fascinating? My sisters died and there was nothing --”

Lauren halted in her tracks, her expression blank.

Peter stopped beside her, but Hahn continued on a few steps as if he hadn’t realized they were no longer following him.

“Lauren?” Peter asked, worried.

“Is there a problem?” Hahn questioned, finally stopping but refusing to turn their way. Peter could almost hear the smile in his voice.

“Lauren?” repeated Peter.

“Get out.”

“What?”

“I believe she said ‘get out’,” Hahn provided, facing them both.

He was smiling.

“What’s…” Peter began, unable to finish. His eyes darting from Lauren to Hahn, and back again, as the two of them seemed somehow connected.

“Stop it,” Lauren managed, her voice suddenly weak; her head beginning to shake slightly as if by some unseen force.

Hahn said nothing and Peter finally understood.

“Get out of her head,” Peter ordered.

Hahn must have broken the connection, because the next thing Peter knew Lauren was swaying slightly on the spot.

“You’re like her, aren’t you?” Peter asked, lending a hand to help steady Lauren beside him. “Like Jenny Yi of the Order?”

“Close.”

It didn’t take much, not much at all. Peter had learned quickly, almost naturally, how to stretch out his own feelings and determine what power a person had. It had been the easiest part of his power to use, something he’d been doing regularly since the colony had moved to Boston. Doing it now, Peter felt a bit foolish. He hadn’t acknowledged the power Hahn possessed because it was one he’d already seen before, something that had only happened before with Linderman.

“You’re telepathic,” Peter said. “You’re like Matt. You’re ability… But how did you do that? Matt can’t… Just now you were making her see things, weren’t you? That’s what Yi does. That’s not…”

“In the common phrase we’d called Ms. Yi a mentalist,” a new voice added, coming down the hall towards them at a leisurely pace.

Linderman.

“Do you know what the difference is between a telepath and a mentalist?” Linderman asked Peter directly as he stopped beside Dr. Hahn.

“No.”

“Evolution.”  



	21. Revelations

  
**Chapter 23: Power**

“This is all really interesting and everything,” Peter said, taking a more defensive stance, “but we’re not here to talk.”

“You don’t want to know more about your friends? About Mr. Parkman and Ms. Crammer? Who they are and who they’ll turn out to be?”

“I know enough…”

“You don’t, Peter,” Linderman interrupted. “You really don’t.”

“This isn’t why we’re here,” Peter said defensively.

“Yes it is. Of course it is,” Linderman returned, almost with a laugh. “Peter, we both know that if you wanted to, you could have walked out of this building months ago. Whenever you’d liked. You’ve had no special guards or restrictions. No permanent bounds to break. Your own curiosity…”

“You had me put under,” he objected loudly. “I haven’t been here because I wanted this.”

“But surely since then…”

“I wasn’t going to leave Lauren behind. I wasn’t about to…”

“Just admit it, Peter. You were curious. You wanted answers and so you stayed…”

“Wanting answers had nothing to do with it,” Peter said, irritated by Linderman’s accusations and condescending attitude.

“Part of you wanted to help us. Just like your parents did. Part of you…”

“Stop,” Peter roared, suddenly redirecting his attention to Hahn. “I know what you’re doing. I do. It’s not… it’s not going to work.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“You…” Peter said, eyes still livid and focused directly on Hahn. “You’re both trying to distract me. Trying to get into my head and… It’s not going to work.”

Peter felt Lauren shift uncomfortably beside him. He could feel her unease but could do nothing about it. He’d gotten them into this mess and he’d have to get them out of it. If Peter had listened to Lauren and just left when they’d had the chance they wouldn’t be here now. Of course, Peter wouldn’t have felt right about leaving behind Stephanie Franco, that’s not something he could do with a conscious so strong, but it would have been the wiser choice. And, he could admit to himself, that Linderman was at least a little right in his assumptions. Peter really did want something more; he did want some answers.

“No one is trying to trick you, Peter,” Linderman said calmly. “We’re only trying to make you understand what we really do here. How valuable you could be, not just for us but for…”

“You’ve already tried that one,” Peter interrupted quickly. “Remember? For the benefit of mankind. No. I don’t buy that. Not at all. You’re both in this for yourselves.”

Linderman shrugged as if it was impossible to deny.

“So don’t you want the truth?”

“I do,” Peter answered. “I just don’t think I’ll get it.”

“There’s no reason to lie now, is there?” Linderman asked. “You have the advantage. Dr. Hahn and I are unarmed and completely at your mercy. You must know that nothing we could do to you--”

Linderman stopped suddenly, surprised to see Hahn lifted off his feet beside him and sent sailing backwards a good twenty feet before landing on the floor with a thud, knocked unconscious by the force of it.

“I told you to stay out of my head,” Peter said through gritted teeth.

“As I said,” Linderman continued, trying to look composed but still visibly rattled. “We are at your mercy.”

Before Peter could turn down the offer and tell him that they only wanted to go, Lauren finally spoke up beside him.

“Why the experiments?” she asked, just loud enough to be heard. “The real reason. What were you looking for? What… what is this really about? If you were only looking for certain powers, why not leave it at that? Why tamper…”

“Curiosity,” Linderman answered almost immediately. “At first we did not perform such acts. There were certain members of the company that felt it was a violation of rights. At first we only captured, triggered and recorded the power. Tagged the experiment and let them go. Watched and observed. Kept very detailed…”

“What changed then?” Peter said.

“We did.”

“How?”

“We became greedy,” Linderman continued. “We knew that, over time, the powers would evolve. They’re meant to grow with their owner. Typically, once one aspect of a gift is mastered, a new one develops. It’s amazing, this evolution.”

“So triggering the gift wasn’t enough anymore,” Peter supplied. “You tried to evolve them as well.”

“Yes,” Linderman agreed. “With some success. We wanted to push the powers as far as we could, but sometimes… Sometimes there were side-effects.”

“Like what?” Lauren asked, worried. They’d just put her through one of those experiments.

“Minor things really. Some never evolve past what they can do initially. Some evolved very successfully, like you Ms. Crammer. I know the procedure can be brutal but…”

“You had no right to do it,” Lauren said, as loud as she ever was. “I wasn’t ready. It’s not something you’re supposed to mess around with. It’s supposed to happen when it does, on its own.”

“True,” Linderman admitted. “All true. But still, we had to see…”

“What about the failures?” Peter asked.

“There weren’t many, but of the few who responded badly. It mostly amounted to them struggling with their power. They had a harder time adapting to the things they could do. Eventually they caught up. Eventually they always do.”

“What about the others?”

“The others were… well, they weren’t the same.”

“Sylar?” Peter questioned as the image popped vividly to mind. “You evolved Sylar?”

“We didn’t know then exactly what he would become. It was a mistake.”

“But why?” Lauren asked. “Why do it at all? Why…”

“Because they wanted the power for themselves, right?” Peter said bluntly. “Like he said, they were greedy.”

“Yes, there was that.”

“And?” Peter asked, sensing something left unsaid. “There’s more, isn’t there? You told me you wanted Claire because of what she does, but she does what you do. She heals herself and she heals others. You can do that, right? Or, you could… once.”

Linderman smiled tightly, but said no more.

“That’s it,” Peter continued, the information almost overloading his mind. “It wasn’t about finding new powers, was it? It was about fixing your own. You tried to evolve Matt so that Hahn could take his powers. You were afraid to do the same to Jenny Yi because she was already further ahead then both of them. You wanted Claire… You wanted Claire not to save you from a plague you never planned to release, but to save your own powers. She’s… she’s not just healing people, is she? She’s…”

“Evolving them,” Linderman finished for him. “Yes. Yes, she is. We don’t think she knows that part of her power, but you could see why we’d want to see it for ourselves. She’s… she’s the miracle we’ve been hunting for for years.”

“When did it start?”

“We started losing our powers about the same time the experiments began,” Linderman said with a sigh, looking tired now. “We were, at the time, really looking to expand our own powers. Finding them diminished only added to our fervor. Your father’s powers were the first to falter and then disappear. He had never been as far along as the rest of us, but your mother… there was a shock.”

“So when Sylar…”

“He gained nothing from her,” Linderman answered, saving Peter the awful question. “By that time, it had completely gone. We should have never tampered… We knew then, even then, that it was likely a mistake. But, once we’d begun, once our own powers were going away with them, we couldn’t stop.”

“If you have machines and procedures that evolve… why not use them on yourselves?” Lauren asked, not unkindly. “Why not at least try…”

“We did. Those particular machines are based after my own gifts. At their height they were at least equal to what we think Ms. Bennet’s are today. By the time we got them working, for most of us it was already too late. Some were dead; some had completely reverted back to their original states. By then, there was only myself and Dr. Hahn left. The procedure works, temporarily, on us, but…”

“Your powers start to fade again after awhile.”

“Yes,” Linderman admitted. “That is why we began looking for some more permanent way to fix our problems. We’d settled early on Mr. Parkman and Ms. Bennet as having the powers needed, but the problem then became how to absorb them as our own.”

“You mean steal them away?” Peter asked, growing angry again.

Again, Linderman shrugged.

“So that’s why you’ve kept Peter,” Lauren said after a pause. “Him and Sylar… they both can do what you want but…”

“But we can not duplicate how,” Linderman finished.

“Did you ever stop to think that maybe you weren’t supposed to know how?” said Peter, shifting to watch Hahn who had finally begun to stir on the floor. “That this whole mess was caused…”

“Yes, yes,” Linderman said impatiently. “That we know for certain. None of this would have gone this far if we’d only stopped while there was still time. We knew then, most of us at least, that we were pushing towards a catastrophe. That the only possible outcome to all of this would be disaster. Your friend, Mr. Mendez… even without his paintings we could all sense it.”

“But you kept on?” Lauren asked as if Peter’s frustrations were wearing off on her. “You kept doing it, even though you knew? Even now?”

“We had to,” Linderman asked coolly. “It was our destiny.”

“This?” Peter asked, stunned. “You think this is destiny?”

“Certainly. Don’t you?”

“No,” said Peter with a violent shake of his head.

Hahn, having just rejoined them, flinched at the motion.

“We had to keep doing it because we were meant to do it,” Linderman continued, undisturbed by their attitudes.

“The Order? The Republic?” Peter said.

“Necessary,” Linderman answered. “Absolutely necessary. Without a cover, without some way of funding and hiding our true intentions…”

“Which are what?”

“You must know by now, Peter. You’re smarter than that.”

Peter paused, considering it momentarily, and knew. He just knew.

“You never gave up on your original plans. You never stopped…”

“No,” Linderman interrupted. “No we did not. Yes, we do want our original powers back, but can you blame us if after seeing all that can be possible, we did not wish that for ourselves as well?”

“They’re not yours…”

“Says the man who they belong to,” Linderman cut in, and for the first time he sounded angry as well. “You, Peter, who can do whatever you want… Of course it would not occur to you that others might find their own powers limited or obsolete. You have too much power to think about what others do not have.”

“What gives you…”

“Everything,” Linderman argued. “Everything gives me the right. I deserve this. Not you. Not Mr. Gray. For years and years I’ve worked towards this moment, towards my destiny. And now the only thing that stands in my way is you. You, Peter, who have never been more than a second thought to any of us.”

Peter and Lauren exchanged a quick glance at one another before readying themselves for what was surely to come. Neither could imagine what it could possible be; neither certain why they felt as if something was to happen. But, no doubt, there had been a change; a sudden change in attitude in both Linderman and Hahn; a sudden, ominous change.

“Why won’t you tell us how it’s done?” Linderman demanded. “Why, Peter? That’s all we want. We’ll let you go. We’ll let you and your friends all leave here if you’ll only…”

“No,” Peter said quickly.

Linderman and Hahn exchanged their own glances, seeming as if to decide something.

“You really have left us no choice,” Linderman said quietly as he removed what looked like a pager from his pocket and began to push in some sort of code.

Before Peter had time to react or to realize exactly what Linderman was doing, Lauren let out a scream of pain and collapsed to the floor.

“We weren’t just experimenting on her abilities, Peter,” Linderman said casually, raising his voice only enough to be heard over Lauren’s continuous cries of pain. “We’ve known now for weeks who she is and why she is here. That, eventually, you would try to leave. This was our little bit of extra insurance. We put an inhibitor in her, a rather strong one. It’s set low, shall we turn it up so you can get a better idea of what it does?”

Lauren, still on the floor, was clawing at the base of her spine in a futile effort to stop the cause of the pain. Thrashing and crying out for it to stop.

“Turn it off!”

“Are you…”

The smile slid off of Linderman’s face as Hahn was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall with enough force to knock down several pictures hanging nearby. One look at the man was enough to see that he was struggling for breath. That Peter not only had him pinned firmly in place, but was also restricting the man’s airflow.

“You’re not a murderer, Peter,” Linderman said calmly.

“I’ll do what I have to do,” Peter returned. “Turn it off. Now.”

“No.”

“No?” Peter repeated in disbelief. “Didn’t you understand me? I’ll do it. I will kill him…”

“Then kill him. Go ahead,” Linderman said. “He’s an annoyance. I don’t need him, Peter. You’ll be doing me a favor, actually. Sooner or later, I’d have to be rid of him myself.”

Hahn looked outraged.

“Go on then,” Linderman prodded. “Go ahead and--”

Linderman stopped mid-taunt, shocked as the device he’d been holding sailed swiftly from his hand to Peter’s. No sooner than Peter had a hold of it then Linderman felt his own feet leave the ground; pushed roughly against the wall just opposite Dr. Hahn.

“I won’t tell you…”

“You don’t have to,” Peter muttered, already connected with the machine and rapidly deciphering it borrowing Micah’s ability.

There was a small pop and Lauren gasped, striking the floor hard with her hands in apparent exhaustion.

“Are you alright?” Peter asked, leaning down towards her once more.

She tried to say ‘yes’ but couldn’t find her voice, opting instead to nod vigorously as Peter helped her to her feet.

“Come on,” Peter urged, taking her by the arm and heading quickly down the hall. “You two stay here,” he called out over his shoulder, as if either had a choice. “We’ll only be a minute and then…”

Peter came to a halt as the lights around them flickered once, twice and then went out altogether.

This couldn’t be good.  



	22. Revelations

  
**Chapter 24: Arrival**

Things had been going well until this point.

Micah, D.L. and Hiro had done just as they’d planned, gotten as near to the building as they could with their powers intact, but they had not been prepared for the pandemonium they’d encountered.

“What do you think has happened?” Micah asked quietly.

Neither of the others answered, but both thought they knew.

It had to be Peter.

For a few minutes or more they watched until finally the panic seemed to die down. People were no longer scrambling, as if for their lives. People were no longer yelling out orders. Those that had fled were well out of the way. The rest, if there were more, were still inside trying to contain what was likely uncontainable.

“Should I…”

“Yeah,” D.L. answered, they couldn’t wait any longer. “Kill it.”

Micah shut his eyes. He found, sometimes, it was easier that way. It was like he could feel the energy radiating off of the electronic machinery. He could feel it almost as if it was a real, breathing thing.

And to him it was.

Micah stretched out his power, pushing against the current, until he found what he was looking for. He talked with it, there was no better explanation; he talked to the device, told it what he wanted, and waited for it to happen.

And it did.

“It’s done,” Micah said, opening his eyes again. Not realizing that he’d barely blinked. That’s how fast it was.

“It’s your turn now,” D.L. said, turning to Hiro.

Hiro nodded briefly before advising them to, “Stay close.”

Freezing time for just the three of them, Hiro led the way towards the building they’d been watching now for months.

They took their time, they had plenty to spare, making certain to note the entrances and exits. It was information they would need if they had to make a hasty, unaided escape.

Finally arriving at the building Micah pointed out as being connected to the overall network, D.L. took the lead and phased them through the wall.

There was no one in sight, just them. Slowly they moved up the three flights, scoping out the control room once they’d arrived.

They were lucky once more. It was empty.

Hiro restarted time, not wanting to overdo it if he didn’t have to. There was no telling how long he’d have to search for Peter and Lauren. He needed to conserve his power, while he still could.

“Alright,” Micah said, taking a seat in front of the nearest main station. “It will only take me a few minutes. I just need to find the core of the system and bring it down.”

Hiro said nothing, only continued looking grave as he kept watch. D.L. nodded, placing a hand on his son’s shoulder and assuring him that they knew he was doing everything he could, as quickly as he could.

“Um…” Micah said, staring intently at the screen for a moment.

“What?” D.L. asked.

“Do they know we’re here?” Hiro asked at nearly the same time.

“No,” answered Micah. “They don’t. I’ve got most of the inhibitors off, just a few in the lowest parts of the building are still active. It’s just that… I thought I’d look to see if I could pinpoint where they’re keeping Lauren and Peter and… I can’t find Lauren at all.”

“Are you checking for Lauren or for Lori?” D.L. said, certain there had to be a mistake. “Remember she went in under an alias.”

“No, I do. I know,” Micah returned. “I checked both and she’s not in their system at all. She’s not even on--”

Micah stopped abruptly, realizing what he had stumbled onto.

The list.

But just as he’d found it, it was gone; almost as if someone had removed it completely from the system and wiped it clean.

“If she’s not there…” D.L. started, turning to Hiro at a loss.

“It could be a mistake,” he said, remaining calm. “An oversight. They might not have believed her and instead chose not to list her. Do you know the names of those they’re holding?”

“There’re only four,” Micah answered, pulling up the information for them to see for themselves. “Two are in the lowest levels. It seems that’s their strongest point.”

“Do you know which two?”

“No,” Micah answered his father.

“Probably Peter and Sylar,” Hiro said. “They won’t take chances on either of them. You’ll have to find a way to drop the inhibitors there, too.”

“I’m trying but…” Micah began. “I think the only way is to kill all of the power.”

“Can you do that?” D.L. asked.

“Yeah,” Micah assured him. “I can. No problem. It’s just a matter of overloading their generators. The lowest levels are on a back-up system, but it wouldn’t be too difficult to do. I’m just not sure I should.”

“It’s the only way,” D.L. replied, understand his son’s hesitation.

“I know,” Micah answered. “But if these systems are on specifically to keep Sylar in place…”

“We’ll have to take that chance,” Hiro said firmly. “I can’t get in with the inhibitors still on.”

“Okay,” Micah agreed. “Here it goes.”

Micah focused in on the control panel, mentally working his way through the system towards the generators that were still powering the lowest levels of Primatech. With a few simple instructions he ordered them to burn themselves out. It was quick and easy and over within a matter of seconds.

“Done,” Micah said with a nod. “You’d better hurry. I’m not sure this can be reversed and there are emergency generators still in place. I’ll keep watch, make sure the inhibitors don’t turn back on, but I guarantee that won’t take some time.”

“Don’t worry,” Hiro said confidentially. “If this goes well I’ll be back with both of them before you’ve even had time to miss me.”

“Then you should get going,” D.L. urged.

“Promise me that if I’m gone too long…”

“We’re either leaving with you or we’re going in after you,” D.L. interrupted, his mind set.

Hiro paused, looking very much as if he wanted to argue it, before finally nodding slightly and disappearing from sight.

He’d understood. They were all in this together now. There was no going back.

****

“Petrelli, you idiot,” Hahn screamed from somewhere in the darkness. “Turn the power back on! He’ll escape!”

“I didn’t…” Peter began to protest, his concentration thrown causing Hahn and Linderman to slide to the floor.

Both Peter and Lauren stopped dead in their tracks as a high-pitched scream ripped through the air, coming from the door at the end of the hallway they’d been traveling. It was loud, and afraid, and quickly cut short.

“We have to get out of here,” Hahn yelled, clearly panicked. “We have to go!”

“To the arsenal,” Linderman instructed, barely raising his voice. “Quickly.”

The emergency lights, flickering on, gave Peter just enough light to see that Lauren was looking to him for advice. She was looking to him to lead and he couldn’t disappoint her; he had to do something, but he didn’t know what.

“Peter,” Linderman called out. “It’s our only chance. You can’t beat him.”

“Peter…” Lauren whispered. He could feel the fear radiating off of her now.

“Go,” he finally said. “Go. Follow them.”

Lauren nodded briefly, rushing to do just that, when the door before them flew open and Sylar appeared.

“I thought you’d be harder to find then this,” Sylar said, running the back of his hand across his mouth.

He was covered in blood.

“Run,” Peter said to Lauren before stopping between her and Sylar, ready for the fight to come.

Lauren turned, reluctant to obey, only to find that Linderman and Hahn were both gone. She didn’t know where to run to.

Sylar’s eyes shifted briefly from Peter to Lauren, a smile stretching across his face.

“I remember you,” he said, taking a few steps forward. “You should stay. You can be next, after Peter of course.”

Lauren hesitated and Sylar got the upper hand. She’d gone to throw up a field between them and Sylar, but it was too late. She found herself, instead, slammed into the wall and gasping for breath.

Peter reacted without thinking, sending electricity shooting down the remainder of the hallway at Sylar.

“Let her go!”

Thrown off balance, Sylar stumbled and Lauren was temporarily released. This time she didn’t wait, even if it did mean interrupting Peter’s assault. Lauren placed a shield not just in front of Sylar, but around him.

They could just hear Sylar’s muffled scream as he banged his fists against the blue dome that surrounded him completely.

Lauren stood, hands shaking, as she stared at what she’d done.

“It won’t hold,” she said frantically. “Not long. It’s… it’s…”

She wanted to say ‘killing me’ but couldn’t. It only felt that way, she tried to reason. It was only draining her energy away, not her life.

“How long --” Peter started to ask, stopping abruptly as a scream ripped through his body.

Peter collapsed to the floor with a flash of light, unconscious, leaving Lauren in a daze.

“Peter?” she screamed out, terrified at his sudden change.

Lauren looked back and saw Linderman had returned, holding some type of weapon in his hand.

“He’ll be fine,” Linderman assured her, coming forward and casually stepping over Peter’s body. “I was merely testing it. Now, if you would just hold Mr. Gray in place until I can…”

But it was too late. Horrified at what had happened, unable to concentrate on anything except that fact that Peter looked dead, Lauren let the shield slip.

Sylar was free again, and within seconds, upon her.

Both Peter and Linderman were sent flying down the hallway, with one unseen push, leaving Sylar virtually alone with her, one hand wrapped tightly around her throat.

“Now’s the time to get right with God,” Sylar leaned in and whispered into her ear. “It’ll all be over soon. I promise.”

Lauren watched as he pulled back, drawing his other hand level to her eyes, before shutting her own in horror.

“You’re right,” a new voice said. “It is over.”

Two swift motions, a spray of blood, and a scream; that’s all there was in the end.

Hiro had arrived.

It was hard to say who was more surprised, Linderman or Lauren.

Lauren, covered in blood, continued to scream in shock. She couldn’t help it. Everything was happening so fast, it felt as if she was losing her mind.

Hiro simply stepped over what remained of Sylar’s body as he put away his sword, and took her by the arm.

“Are you okay?” he asked gently.

Lauren stopped long enough to nod her head vigorously, turning to point out Peter, still unconscious, on the floor.

Just as he looked, Peter stirred.

Linderman, taking this as his queue to leave, began to back slowly towards the exit.

“Stay there,” Linderman said to them, still trying to maintain some illusion of control. “I won’t try and stop you from leaving, but if…”

Peter, awake now, got slowly to his feet. Ignoring both Hiro and Lauren, he looked instead to Linderman.

“She could have died,” Peter said calmly, striding toward Linderman with renewed determination. “He was contained and you --”

“You’re the one who let him out,” Linderman argued, backing away quicker than before.

“You’re the one who kept him in the first place,” Peter returned angrily. “You made him. You made him a monster and then kept him around hoping --”

“Stay back!”

Hahn, brandishing a gun similar to the one Linderman was carrying, jumped out of the doorway Peter had just passed. Evidently that was the armory they’d been discussing before.

“This time it will kill you,” Hahn warned, his hands shaking as he held the weapon up. “Another shock like the one you just got… Be reasonable, no one wanted --”

Peter barely gave him a glance and Hahn’s head rotated unnaturally, producing an audible snap, as he crumbled to the floor.

“No,” Lauren called out. “Peter, stop! Don’t do this. There’s no need! We can go. We can just go!”

“Stop,” Hiro said, pulling her back to his side and refusing to let her intervene. “It has to be done.”

Linderman had looked to her hopefully, ready to take any help that might be offered, but soon that hope was done away.

Lauren stared at Hiro for a long moment before reluctantly nodding in agreement. She understood. She’d accepted it. This wouldn’t end until Primatech was dead, and Linderman was Primatech.

“I have answers, Peter,” Linderman said, desperate now as he shifted his focus back to the man now only a few feet away. “You wanted to know. You needed…”

“I don’t need anything from you,” Peter said evenly.

“But how will you know?” Linderman asked. “If I die, the truth dies with me. How will you ever know why it began? How it began!”

“I don’t need to know how anymore,” Peter answered, ready to take the final step. “I just need it to end.”  



	23. Revelations

  
**Chapter 25: Plans**

The first thing to be done was to check on Stephanie. Not one of them believed she’d survived her encounter with Sylar, but Peter wouldn’t feel right if he didn’t at least see for himself. It didn’t take much more than a glance to confirm the worst, but he couldn’t just stop there. Feeling it was necessary, since they couldn’t remove her body, he covered her instead. By the time he’d returned to the hallway he’d discovered that Hiro and Lauren had removed Hahn and Linderman from the scene; Sylar they left where he’d fallen. It was time to go.

They stopped long enough to raid the armory. It wasn’t a huge room, but it certainly had plenty of weapons to choose from; weapons like they’d never seen before, but ones that were certain to come in handy.

“We should hurry,” said Hiro. “D.L. and Micah will be wondering where we are. I told them I’d be right back.”

Peter nodded, still not able to look either of them in the eyes.

“You did the right thing,” Hiro finally said, after a long pause.

“I know,” Peter whispered, more to himself than to either of them.

Lauren looked very much like she wanted to say something but, as usual, stopped herself. It didn’t feel like it was her place, even if she was only agreeing.

“Come on,” Hiro urged, and each felt that familiar lurch of time being stopped. “It’s not far.”

None of them spoke on the walk back to the control tower. Hiro led the way, followed by Lauren, with Peter walking just behind them both, as if still on alert.

Peter was trying to use the time to plan, but his thoughts kept drifting back to what he’d just done.

“Why’d you come in?”

Peter lifted up his head, eager to hear Hiro’s response to Lauren’s question as well.

“After us? Not to sound ungrateful,” Lauren added quickly. “But this wasn’t what we’d planned.”

“We got worried,” Hiro answered, only looking back briefly. “We got worried and we weren’t going to leave you in there, no matter what you thought we should do. Either of you.”

Lauren nodded slightly and said no more.

It wasn’t a long walk, but along the way Peter and Lauren both got a first hand look at the panic that had become Primatech. Everything was in disorder. Posts they knew to be manned twenty-four hours a day were left abandoned. It seemed as if the people who had been blindly following orders for so long sensed a change taking place. Maybe they had only been held so long out of fear, or maybe they feared the retribution to come. Either way, it was a relief. None of them had been looking forward to the probability of fighting their way out. Not again.

Hiro lead them up several flights of steps inside a guard tower before pausing outside the door.

“Maybe I should knock first,” he pondered, taking a peek back at the other two with him. They didn’t look great and Hiro didn’t want to startle them.

“Yeah,” Peter agreed.

Hiro nodded, restarted time, and tapped quickly on the door.

After a pause, the door slowly creaked open and D.L., first confused, and then elated, ushered them inside.

“We were starting to wonder,” he said, obviously relieved.

Micah hopped out of his chair, beginning to rush forward; halting in his tracks as he took in Lauren and Peter’s appearances.

“Are you okay?”

Lauren looked first to Hiro, and then to Peter, before nodding her head, uncertain why he’d asked.

“But your face,” Micah countered. “Lauren, you’re covered…”

“Oh,” she started, wiping at it frantically with her hands. After the shock of the moment with Sylar had passed, she’d forgotten. “It’s fine. I’m not hurt… I’m…”

“Here,” D.L. said, offering her his jacket to help with the mess.

“But you’re still…” Micah persisted.

“The procedure,” Peter answered, turning and looking at her again. “They prod the brain somehow; look at what we can do. They also put in an inhibitor.”

“In both of you?” D.L. asked, knowing it would be up to him to get it out again.

“Just Lauren,” Peter said.

“Whenever you want it out, Lauren, just let me know,” D.L. said.

“Or,” Micah added, “I can kill their servers and systems. I mean, I should anyway. There might be no reason to take it out.”

“I’d rather you did,” Lauren said with a short nod. “Just maybe… not now. Later?”

D.L. smiled and nodded in reply.

“We shouldn’t stay here long,” Hiro urged. “The organization may be dead, but there might still be some left with some fight in them.”

“Is there somewhere nearby we can go to?” Peter asked, looking out the windows uncertainly. It seemed like the last time he’d seen the sky, or had so much freedom, was so long ago.

“We’ve got a place,” D.L. answered. “It’s a good walk away, but it won’t take long if we hurry.”

“Good,” Peter said, unconsciously taking control. “Micah, kill everything you can. Mainframes, generators, servers, backups. If you can talk to it, kill it.”

Micah nodded, quickly taking a seat again and setting to work.

“We’ll take tonight,” Peter continued, “and rest, fix a plan, and then as soon as we can we have to get to D.C.”

“What about Primatech?” D.L. asked. “Is it… Are we done here?”

“It’s taken care of,” Hiro answered.

“Micah destroying the files should be enough,” Peter added. “It’s the best we can do.”

“What about all these people?” Lauren asked somewhat distressed by the idea. “What’s going to happen to all the people left in the Republic?”

In the background the room grew quiet as Micah stopped typing in an effort to hear the response.

“You mean all these people who haven’t done a thing to help us?” D.L. returned. “Who sat back and watched this happen?”

“I know,” Lauren reasoned. “I know they don’t… They never actually did anything to us, but they never tried to stop it. But isn’t it wrong… They’ll be okay, won’t they?”

“They’ll be fine,” Peter kindly reassured her, but not entirely positive that was the case.

“Life will likely go on as before,” Hiro added with more confidence. “Many people here have no contact with Primatech. They’ll survive. They’ll adapt.”

Lauren nodded in agreement as Micah returned to work, both of their feelings slightly relieved.

“Almost done?” Peter asked, turning to Micah.

“Another minute or two.”

“Good,” Peter said.

“But, Peter,” Micah said, still working as he talked. “Are you sure there’s nothing you want saved? I saw a list that might be useful when I first accessed the records. I think it was the list. It hasn’t popped up again, but…” Micah trailed off, shaking his head. The information had vanished. He’d been on the lookout for it since, but had not seen it again.

“Don’t worry about it,” Peter interrupted, “I’ve got it… taken care of.”

“Okay,” Micah said, sounding skeptical. “I’m finished. I’ve got the generators on a ten minute delay to overload. That should give us enough time to get out of here.”

“More than enough,” Hiro said, stopping time and allowing them an easy getaway.

The walk back to their hideout, much like the walk out of the subfloors of Primatech, was silent. Relief and fatigue set in equally, exhausting everyone past the point of speaking.

It wasn’t until much later that night, after D.L. had removed the inhibitor from Lauren, and Peter had done his best to heal her up, that they even began to discuss the ordeal at all.

Peter related everything he felt they needed to know about Primatech, his stay there, and what he thought they had been up to. He purposely omitted the new information he’d learned about Nathan and Claire, wanting first to talk to them about it; hoping he’d have that chance. He was confident that, if given the opportunity, they’d be able to break them all out of the Order. The Order, after all, couldn’t be any more secure than Primatech had been, and they’d succeeded here. His only fear now was that they’d be too late. There were times when Linderman had strongly suggested as much, and Peter had gotten enough of a look inside Jenny Yi’s head to feel uneasy.

“Okay,” D.L. said, breaking after a long pause in the story. “I think I get what’s happened here. The experiments, the problems, why they’d keep you and Sylar. That, I understand. What I don’t get is why Yi, who we can all admit isn’t dumb, would take Mohinder. I know he’s a genetic whizz and all, but still. Nathan and Claire she could bargain with. Matt she’s probably using same as before. But why Mohinder? He studied genetics, he didn’t manipulate them. What good does he do her?”

Peter saw Lauren’s eyes dart quickly in his direction.

“She knew Primatech was going to release a plague,” Hiro offered, not noticing the silent exchange. “With Claire as the cure, maybe she thought he could at least try to help her. Taking him with the others, two who would not be immune, would only add to her case. We know Mohinder would try and help them, even if he wouldn’t want to help her.”

“How would she control them, though? The rest of them?” Micah asked.

“Inhibitors,” D.L. answered. “Same as Primatech. That and fear. Abuse. She’s good at it.”

“Did Primatech give them to her as well?” Hiro asked. “Or did she have them created for herself?”

“The Order had them back in Boston. If she made them on her own, without Primatech, it just shows she has people that can help her already,” D.L. replied. “Again, why Mohinder?”

“These are questions we’ll never be able to answer,” Hiro said. “There’s no explaining the things she does.”

“But there is,” D.L. argued. “She’s always got a reason and a plan. I think we need to consider why she them before we rush in there. We need to know what she’s up to. As near as we can, we need to know her plan and her part in this.”

“And we won’t know that until we get there,” Hiro countered.

“Mohinder’s been studying this, what we do, for a long time,” Micah provided. “Maybe she wanted to know more about it. She’d have his files, all the surveillance the Order put on him from before we went to the colony. She even got inside his head once. She might have just thought he could be useful.”

“I’m sure he could,” D.L. said. “I know he is…”

“What is it exactly you’re worried about?” Hiro asked, trying not to sound impatient.

“I don’t know,” D.L. admitted. “Anything and everything. I know we need to hurry, to get there and get them out again, as quick as possible, but I don’t want to run into a trap. We’ve already lost…” D.L. stopped and sighed, lowering his head before finishing. “I just want us to think about what to expect. To try and be prepared.”

“You’re right,” Peter agreed in a near whisper. “We do need to be prepared. Linderman hasn’t said much about the Order, or Yi, but I think… I think he was afraid of what she’d do. It’s the same as before. He put her into power, in a way made her, and then he couldn’t control her. It’s why he tried to take out Nathan. It’s why he replaced him. Linderman knew she’d betrayed him, but he was still willing to negotiate with her, because he was out of options.”

Peter stood up and began pacing. No one else spoke, only watched his quick progress around the room.

“I don’t know what she’s up to,” Peter finally said. “I don’t know what we’ll be going to and I don’t know if…” He paused a moment to clear an unexpected hitch in his throat. “I don’t know if there is even anyone left to go to. I just know that it’s what we have to do.”

“Peter,” D.L. said, standing to meet him eye to eye. “I’m not questioning that. All of us know what needs to be done.”

“I know,” Peter said with half a smile, clasping the other man’s arm, faltering only when he saw Lauren’s eyes on him once more.

“We’ll go with you whenever you want. However you want.”

“Good,” Peter replied, sounding uneasy now. Hearing now Lauren’s thoughts on the subject and knowing it was no good keeping quiet any longer. “But there is something… there is something we saw that might explain why, maybe even what Yi is doing with Mohinder.”

No one said anything, but Lauren offered up a quick smile and visibly relaxed.

“It’s just a guess,” he said. “She could have him working on a cure. She could have him working on research. Like I said, I don’t know, but she could also be attempting her own experiments.”

“Experiments?” Micah asked. “Like what?”

“Like the kind they did here,” he answered. “Tracking. Modifying. Triggering.”

“Triggering who?” Hiro asked. “Does she have a copy of the list?”

“Do you think she’s tracking down people and looking for new powers?” D.L. asked.

“If she has the list then she doesn’t need to track anyone down,” Peter answered. “Mohinder is on it.”

There was a general outcry at this, and considerable confusion.

“That’s just not possible,” D.L. finally said, still shaking his head.

“We saw him there,” Peter said. “Lauren and I both did. The list…”

“But he’s never shown a power.”

“Does he know?”

“Probably not,” Peter cut back in. “Not if Yi doesn’t. He was only on the potential list. His father had the gene, which made him more likely, but…”

“His sister,” Micah said with a nod. “His sister, she did. She’d evolved…”

“But why didn’t he?” D.L. questioned.

“Maybe he just never needed to,” Micah returned.

“Or wanted to,” Lauren added softly.

“It’s not important why,” Peter finally decided. “If she’s found a way to trigger or copy his potential… but we’re way off track here. It’s only something to be aware of. It’s a possibility. Any thing could be going on, which is why we need to get there. Now.”

Peter had stopped abruptly, eyes fixed on Hiro.

“No.”

“Hiro,” Peter reasoned. “It’s the only way --”

“It’s not the only way,” Hiro argued.

“It’s the fastest way,” Peter countered.

“Not necessarily. Not if I can’t… Peter, you can’t be serious. There’s a reason I don’t jump unless I have to. I can’t control it. I can’t control time over such a distance.”

“But you’ve tried,” Peter persisted, determined to carry his point.

“Yes,” he agreed. “I have. And I’ve failed.”

“You won’t this time. It’s not far.”

“Which is why we should just travel…”

“It needs to be now,” Peter interrupted. “I can’t… I don’t know why, but we need to go. Right now.”

“I’ve never taken so many people…”

“I can help.”

“We could lose months, Peter,” Hiro tried, his last objection to the plan. “We could lose years.”

“We won’t.”

Hiro turned from the group to consider it for a moment. Still a believer in destiny, Hiro was swayed. If Peter felt this strongly about it, maybe it was the right move; the correct approach. But what if it wasn’t?

“I’ve never moved laterally in time,” Hiro finally said. “I’ve never… Peter, it’s always pulled back. Do you understand? We could get there and be pulled back to this point in time. If the jump isn’t done correctly...”

“It will be,” Peter said. “I wouldn’t risk this. I wouldn’t even want to try if I didn’t think it would work. You can do this. It’s what you’re meant to do.”

Hiro nodded briskly, acceptingly.

“When do you want to go?”  


  
**Chapter 26: Execution**

“We’ve got to get out of here.”

“Yes, Nathan,” Mohinder sighed, “I know.”

“Who knows what they’re doing,” Nathan mumbled under his breath, still pacing the space before the door as he had been for the last half hour. “They might bring her back, but… One of us could fake an illness. Lure the guards back inside. I’m sure if we caught them by surprise…”

“I’m not sure they’d care if we were sick,” Mohinder reasoned, rising to his feet now as well. “I’m not sure there’s anything --”

“We have to do something,” Nathan growled.

“I know,” Mohinder said, trying hard to pacify him. “I do. But what? It’s not like we can just walk out…”

Mohinder’s voice died in his throat as the lights began to flicker. Both men stopped, looked once to each other, before turning their attention to the lighting fixture in the ceiling.

“Could be a storm,” Mohinder suggested without much confidence.

“I suppose,” Nathan agreed, just as the lights went out entirely, pitching them into complete darkness.

For a moment they stood in silence, anticipating what would happen next.

“Shouldn’t the emergency lights have come on?”

“Yes,” Nathan said, looking about the room to no avail as he waited for his eyes to adjust.

“What do you think --” Mohinder began, only to be harshly hushed by Nathan.

Mohinder could hear Nathan moving towards the door, but couldn’t understand why.

“What is it?” he finally asked, irritated at the other man’s attitude and strange silence. “What?”

Nathan didn’t answer; all of his attention was fixated on the door.

Someone was outside of it.

He wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, but Nathan could only think of a handful of reasons why the power would have been cut to their cell, and none of them were good. It was very likely that, having tired of her captives, Jenny Yi had decided it was time to do away with them. The darkness was probably a distraction so that when the men came in to finish the job, it would be harder for them to fight back.

“Nathan?” Mohinder continued to badger, fumbling his way forward.

“Stay back,” Nathan finally ordered, realizing he’d given himself away as the door gave an audible ‘pop’ and began to swing open.

Nathan knew he had only half a second to gain the advantage. If he could get to them before they turned on his inhibitor, he and Mohinder had a chance. If not, it was certainly over. Lucky for him, Nathan didn’t need half a second; he moved faster than that.

Rushing forward, Nathan got as far as to brush his fingertips across the nearest one’s forearms, to practically look them in the eyes, but no further.

He thought at first that they’d anticipated his move and turned on the inhibitor before opening the door. But as Nathan flew backwards through the air, with a flash of light, he knew that was definitely not the case.

There was light and voices and a lot of confusion. Too many people were talking at once, and Nathan couldn’t clear his head fast enough to understand what was happening as he lay, gazing upwards at the ceiling once more from his new position on the couch.

“Damn it, Nathan,” a familiar voice said, just out of sight and with obvious emotion. “We could have killed you. What were you thinking?”

“He is alright, isn’t he?” another voice asked.

“It was an accident, I’m sorry. He startled me.”

Nathan shut his eyes tightly, trying to rid himself of the bright spots of light that flashed before him.

“Nathan?”

“How… How is this possible?” Mohinder asked just as Nathan reopened his eyes and began to sit up again. “This isn’t happening. This can’t be happening.”

“Are you alright?”

Nathan looked once around the room, taking in the faces of the three who had just joined them, and instinctively agreed with Mohinder. This can’t be happening; it couldn’t be real.

“Peter?” he questioned, looking straight into his brother’s eyes and not even daring to believe it could be true.

“She couldn’t do this,” Mohinder said, turning to Nathan as he struggled for composure. “Could she?”

Hiro shook his head before turning his back to mumble something to Lauren, obviously uncertain of their next step.

“I don’t…” Nathan started to say, before shaking his head abruptly. “No. No she couldn’t. At least I don’t think she could. She couldn’t before so…”

“We’re not hallucinations,” Peter said firmly, adverting his gaze. “I don’t know how to prove that to you and we don’t really have the time to try.”

Nathan sat up straighter now, eager for Mohinder’s opinion. It sounded very much like Peter. Everything was right, down to his inane habit of pulling on his lower lip when agitated. But, all of that could still be just a clever guise, created by Yi. She’d have access to their memories. She’d know…

“Memories,” Peter said sharply, having picked up Nathan’s spare thought. “That’s right; Yi would know us by your memories.” Stepping back and pulling Lauren forward as he continued, Peter asked, “Do either of you remember Lauren looking like this?”

Mohinder and Nathan both stared, surprised to realize that she did look drastically different. Her hair was chopped short and now completely two-toned; blond on the ends with very dark roots.

“Now that you mention it,” Nathan answered, already decided, “she is kind of a mess.”

“Thanks, Nathan,” she returned dryly.

“Okay,” Peter smiled, seeing both men now believed them. “Great. We’ve got to go.”

“Wait,” Mohinder said sharply. “It could just be jumbled. She doesn’t know Lauren so maybe… maybe she’s just making it up.”

Peter sighed in frustration, turning from them both and heading over to confer with Hiro and Lauren.

“We can’t just sit here,” he said in a low voice.

“We didn’t anticipate this,” Hiro argued. “They can’t trust us and we can’t wait.”

“D.L. and Micah will be in the courtyard in a few minutes,” Lauren added.

Nathan and Mohinder watched the exchange a moment before discussing it themselves.

“What do you think?” Nathan asked, standing and joining him beside the far wall of the cell.

“It’s convincing,” he agreed, “but that’s what she’d want. It’s what she’s best at; being convincing. She could be just trying to put us off guard. To lure us…”

“But why?” Nathan interrupted, obviously already decided. “She could come in here any way she wanted, any time, and be done with us. We’ve always known that. Why go through the effort?”

“Because it’s fun for her,” Mohinder answered, and even Nathan couldn’t argue that.

For a moment the two groups turned and watched one another, unsure of what to do next.

“So what do we have to lose?” Nathan finally asked, and to the other’s relief, Mohinder shrugged in response.

Nathan was right, he knew he was. Even if this wasn’t really Peter, even if it wasn’t really a rescue, there was nothing left for them. If it was Jenny Yi playing games, they’d have more to fear from not playing along than if they did. There were no other options left.

“Come on,” Peter urged, heading to the door and leading them quickly down the hallway. “We don’t have time to waste.”

“Okay,” Nathan falling in place beside him.

Mohinder followed just behind them, with Hiro and Lauren taking up the rear.

“So, Peter,” Nathan began, wanting to convince himself this was real. “What’s the plan?”

“There isn’t one,” Peter said, not looking at him, but instead continuously scanning the corridors in search of danger.

“No plan?” Nathan questioned skeptically. “Oh, I see. You just decided one day to walk in here, just like I’m sure you decided to walk out of Primatech, and fetch us. Right?”

“Not exactly,” Peter said, coming to a halt in a series of connecting halls.

Nathan was now as uneasy as Mohinder, staring at Peter in near disbelief.

“What is going on?” Mohinder demanded.

“Take them to the courtyard,” Peter said, ignoring the question altogether as he talked directly to Hiro and Lauren. “If I’m not there in half an hour, leave without us.”

“We’ve discussed this, Peter,” Hiro began.

“I’m not asking you to,” Peter interrupted. “I’m telling you. Leave in half an hour.”

“What the hell is going on?” Nathan demanded to know.

Peter finally stopped and looked at him, finally fixed his eyes on his brother and Nathan could almost feel his turmoil.

“This wasn’t the plan,” Peter began in a tight whisper. “We’ve been here for weeks, watching and waiting for our opportunity, but she didn’t keep you together. We only saw the both of you with Claire in the courtyard. After awhile, we assumed Matt… we assumed he was dead but then we finally spotted him and we were even more unsure of what to do next.”

“Weeks?” Mohinder questioned.

“It was you then,” Nathan said with a quick nod. “You were in the room that night. I wasn’t dreaming, you were there.”

Peter nodded in return before continuing with their story. “Micah found where you were all being kept and we were going to do this in another week but… but tonight Yi put in execution orders. She’s done playing games. We don’t know why, maybe she found out about Primatech…. We’re not really sure but she’s going to kill you. All of you as soon as she’s done…”

“We have to hurry,” Hiro finished for him.

Mohinder nodded, finally in agreement with the rest and ready to go, but Nathan continued to stare at his brother.

“Claire?”

“Yes,” Peter nodded. “She’s going to finish this. She’s there now. The whole place is wired. Micah’s been tracking all of your movements. We knew we had to get you out first, but…”

“Let me come with you,” Nathan offered.

“No,” Peter shook his head in adamant disagreement. “No. You’re not… I’m doing this. If I can’t… if it’s too late…”

Nathan understood. Peter wouldn’t be looking to return if he didn’t have Claire with him.

“What about Parkman?” Nathan asked.

“We’re not bringing him back,” Peter said firmly.

“He’s not… No matter what you might have thought, watching this from the outside, he’s not on her side,” Nathan began, surprising even himself by his defense. “She’s got him so twisted…”

“It’s not…” Peter stammered, shaking his head and looking at the floor. “It’s not that, Nathan.”

“Then what?” Mohinder asked.

“Matt’s why we decided to act,” Peter finally said after a long pause. “After the orders were issued, she’s disconnected his inhibitor.”

“I don’t understand,” Nathan said, even as comprehension dawned across Mohinder’s face.

“We waited too long,” Peter said. “He’s already dead.”  



	24. Revelations

  
**Chapter 27: Flight**

Matt had struggled only initially against the two men that had dragged him off. He knew that fighting would get him nowhere, just yet, and he’d have a better chance at surprising them if he seemed cooperative. When they’d reached the observation half of the interrogation room, Matt realized that it was his last chance. If he was going to try anything, it had to be now.

Fortunately for him, his ruse worked; sort of. Thinking Matt had given up, and despite the fact that he was still unshackled, one of the guards released his grip on Matt to open the door. As soon as that man’s back was turned, Matt flung all of his weight backwards onto the other guard, slamming him to the wall with a loud thud. The first guard, surprised by the sudden change, had just enough time to turn back around and register the fact that Matt was now charging him. However, Matt didn’t quite make it.

Matt was almost there when a familiar jolt shot down his back and across his body sending him falling to the floor.

Jenny laughed, still keying up the inhibitor with unabashed glee.

“Pick yourselves up and get him inside,” she said calmly to her men, once she was done playing.

“Yes, ma’am,” Matt heard one of the guards grunt before being hoisted to his feet.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Jenny asked, meeting his eyes with an eerie composure. “You must really want to see the show.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Matt pleaded, calmer than before but still anxious, as they dragged him across the threshold and dropped him roughly into a waiting chair. “Jenny, this was all me. Only me. I’m the one who set it up. I’m the one who has been stringing you along. She has nothing to do with it.”

“Doesn’t she?” Jenny asked, leaning against the window frame and flipping on the lights in the adjacent room so that it showed through the glass crystal clear.

“You know she doesn’t,” Matt repeated, not even bothering to fight now as his hands were cuffed behind him. “Please. I’m the one you want to hurt. I’m the one who betrayed your trust. It was only me, so I’m the only one who should have to pay for it. Please, don’t do this.”

Jenny sat in contemplation for a long moment before finally issuing a humorless laugh.

“You know,” she said, once she’d finished, “I just don’t understand you. After all this, I still don’t get it. You should be begging me for your life and instead you’re begging me for hers. I’d have thought you’d have learned something from me by now; that you were better than this. You haven’t learned anything.”

Matt shut his eyes tightly and shook his head in defeat. There was no winning in this situation; no way out short of a miracle.

“Of course I’m going to make you pay,” Jenny said, her voice cold and unfeeling. “Of course I want to hurt you. And, like a fool, you keep giving me every reason in the world to go after her. There’s no better way to make you suffer. There’s no better way to kill you. Do you understand me now? Do you finally get it?”

Matt opened his eyes, unable to keep the few tears he had left in him in check, as he nodded slowly in defeat.

Jenny continued to stare at him until a sound in the other room caught her attention; they’d finally brought her in.

“I want him to watch it all,” Jenny said, moving out of Matt’s view and giving him a clear shot of Claire. She was sitting directly opposite him, facing the mirror and practically looking straight into his eyes.

“You’re going to watch,” Jenny whispered, leaning in close to speak directly into his ear. “And you’re going to listen. And you’re going to know, that when I go in there, she’s going to think it’s you doing this to her. She’s going to die thinking it was all you.”

Matt tried to ignore her, but it was impossible. For good measure, she grabbed him roughly by the back of the neck. He thought at first it was just to make sure he was really looking at Claire, but then to his great surprise he realized she was only releasing him from his inhibitor.

“I want you to know what she’s thinking,” Jenny added, before straightening up and heading to the door. “I’m going to make sure she dies hating the very thought of you.”

Matt turned and stared, desperately trying to keep his feelings quashed. He tried to focus on the idea of what was to come, but couldn’t entirely keep the hope out of his head. Anthony was right after all; too much hope around Jenny was a dangerous thing. Matt couldn’t let her realize her mistake. Not now. Not now when he needed her, more than ever, to be blind to her own arrogance and assumptions.

She’d taken off his inhibitor; he could hardly believe it was true. It was a stupid and careless thing to do. Something she did only out of malice. Jenny wanted him to hurt as much as possible; she wanted him to hear it all, inside and out. But, in doing so, she’d given him back the only weapon he needed to escape. She was so consumed with hate that she’d overlooked the fact that he wasn’t just reading minds anymore.

Jenny gave him one more look, and he felt her prodding his thoughts with hers. Matt quickly turned away, turned his attention back to Claire and focused on all of the horrible things he knew was about to come. It was oppressive, but it worked.

Smiling, seemingly assured that the situation was well in hand, she gave her parting instructions to the guards, and locked them all inside.

Matt knew what he had to do next.

****

“Hi, Claire.”

She turned in surprise; her heart dropping into her stomach as she shook here head slightly from side to side.

Claire struggled silently for a moment, trying to keep her composure; it wasn’t an easy thing to do.

“What’s the matter?” Matt asked. “Weren’t you expecting me?”

“I didn’t know what to expect,” Claire answered honestly, refusing to look him in the eye any longer, and deciding instead to keep facing the mirror.

“Oh come on,” he said, practically laughing. “You had to have guessed. You had to have known this day was coming.”

Claire said nothing, only continued to fix her gaze at her own reflection. Fighting hard for her resolve, she was determined not to crack.

“Aren’t you even a little bit curious?”

Her eyes darted quickly towards him, and then away again. Afraid to look too long. Terrified to see the smile she knew he had on his face. It was wrong and unnatural. She’d seen Matt angry, upset, happy, scared, and everything in between, but she’d never seen him like this. He just looked evil.

“I’ll tell you anyway,” Matt said, leaning in far too close and lowering his voice. “Do you see that table over there?”

When she refused to look, Matt put his hand on her chin and firmly turned her head in the direction he’d indicated.

“Now do you see it?” he repeated, his tone no longer light. It wasn’t a joke anymore. He was serious and he wanted her to look.

Claire nodded, if only so he’d stop touching her. She’d seen it when they’d come into the room, but thought nothing of it. At the time she’d been too nervous for serious thought; too scared to take a good look at the place. Now, taking a much better look, Claire realized what it was. She’d see one before, had been on one before, and had never hoped to do so again. She still had nightmares about it, even after all these years; an autopsy table.

“Good,” he returned, letting his hand fall away from her face and onto her shoulder. She shuddered at the contact and attempted to shrug him off, but to no affect. Matt kept his left hand on her shoulder, as his right arm draped casually across the back of her chair. It felt so claustrophobic and he wouldn’t let go.

Claire averted her eyes away from the table and back to the mirror again. Matt, still leaning in beside her, caught her eyes in it and smiled. Still touching her; still holding her too tightly in place. Claire felt nauseous. It was like a horrible nightmare that she couldn’t wake up from.

“Do you know what I’m going to do to you?”

Claire instinctively shook her head no. She hadn’t meant to answer him at all, but found she couldn’t stop herself either.

“I’m going to strap you to that table and peel every bit of your beautiful skin off of your body,” he whispered almost lovingly. “Strip, by strip.”

The knot in her stomach twisted dangerously as her entire body gave an involuntary shudder at the mental image that flashed across her mind.

“Like an experiment,” he continued, going so far as to briefly press his lips to her shoulder. “Let’s see how powerful you really are. Let’s see if you can come back from that.”

“Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“I know she’s making you do this.”

“Is that what you think?” Matt asked.

“I know it,” Claire said, still addressing him strictly through the mirror. It was easier to see him that way, then to look him straight in the eyes. It felt less real.

“That’s a lie,” Matt said, leaning in even closer and speaking directly into her ear. “I’ve wanted to be rid of you now for years, Claire. You’re a burden; an obligation I never asked for, and one I never wanted.”

Claire squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.

“I have lost everything for you. I’ve sacrificed everything for you. And for what? What have you ever done for me?”

“Matt, please…”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” he spat, his voice growing louder and angrier with each word. “All you’ve ever done is whine and complain and cry for someone to come and save you.”

“You know I…” Claire tried to say, but speaking had become a struggle. It wasn’t just the words he was saying, or the way he was acting. There was something more. Her head felt thick and she felt so confused. The world seemed heavier somehow.

“How many have died for you, Claire? How many? Your father. Your mother and brother. Isaac and Simone. All because of you. Hiding you. Protecting you.”

“Please…” Claire said, feeling her body grow weak as blood began to trickle from her nose.

“The colony, Claire,” he continued on, ranting despite her suffering. “All of them, gone because they wanted you.”

Claire couldn’t respond any more, even if she’d wanted to. She felt herself slipping into unconsciousness, and welcomed the sensation. It would be a blessing right now; a relief.

“I’m done with you, Claire. Finished. I’ve died for you once, and I think --”

A loud boom, coupled with a violent shake of the mirror, startled them both. Claire’s eyes popped open at the sound, and for a split second, it wasn’t Matt with her reflected in the mirror; it was Jenny.

“I think…” Jenny said, trying hard to sound in control as she straightened herself up and attempted to slip back into her role.

But another loud boom issued seemingly from the mirror completely tore down her façade.

“Get up,” Jenny said, taking her firmly by the arm and yanking Claire to her feet. “Get up. We’ve…”

The noises had continued until now, but as soon as Jenny had backed towards the door with Claire in tow, they stopped.

That’s when Jenny started to scream.

“No!” she yelled into the mirror. “No! No! Stop it! Stop!”

Claire pushed herself back against the wall, unsure what was happening and still weakened from whatever Jenny had been doing to her. There was blood dripping from Jenny’s nose now too, and Claire couldn’t understand why, unless…

“Matt,” she whispered as it all slid into place.

Claire took a step towards the mirror, only to be yanked violently backwards.

“You’re coming with me,” Jenny said through gritted teeth, pulling Claire right off her feet as she reached for the door.

The response on the other side of the mirror was almost immediate. Before Jenny had even dragged her through the door, Claire was certain she heard the mirror finally crack followed by the sound of gunshots.

“Come on,” Jenny urged, her fingers dug tight into Claire’s forearm as she dragged her down the hallway and away from the interrogation room.

Physically, they were almost an equal match. Jenny wasn’t much bigger than Claire, but she definitely had the advantage. Claire was still in shock, and unwittingly allowed herself to be taken away without any resistance. It wasn’t until they’d almost gotten to the next wing that Claire realized she could resist.

Claire started by digging in heels as hard as she could and clawing at Jenny’s hold on her. She fought her, Claire fought as hard as she could; kicking and scratching and shifting her weight; anything to get free. For a few feet, she was ignored, but finally Jenny had no choice but to retaliate.

“You stupid girl,” she cried out, reversing suddenly and pushing Claire into the wall. “Do you know what he’ll do? Do you?”

“Let go of me,” Claire screamed back at her, trying anything she could to break free, but Jenny seemed to have an iron grasp.

Having had enough, Jenny seized her roughly by the hair and slammed Claire’s head into the wall, several times, until mercifully she passed out.

From there, Jenny pulled Claire the rest of the distance to the lab, too afraid to look behind her. Just as they arrived, the lights went out.  



	25. Revelations

  
**Chapter 28: Leaving**

Peter had stayed until the others had disappeared around the corner, heading off towards the prearranged meeting point with D.L. and Micah. Nathan paused right at the end, staring back and him in a moment as if in earnest contemplation.

Peter wished it could be different. He knew what Nathan was thinking, how he was feeling, and wanted more than anything to just reassure him that he understood. Peter wasn’t angry with him, he wasn’t even upset anymore. He wanted Nathan to know that, but now was not the time. Peter had other things to do.

Turning to go, Peter headed at a quick pace towards where he knew the interrogation room to be. Micah had given him rather detailed directions before they’d begun. Now all Peter had to do was follow them and try not to think. Thinking right now would be bad.

Earlier, when they realized what had begun happening, Peter had come close to panicking. He’d wanted to storm in immediately, to rip the building in two if it came to it, but neither D.L. nor Hiro would allow it. They’d both managed, somehow, to calm him and worked up an alternative plan as best as they could. They’d reminded him of the other times he had lost control of himself, and how he might accidentally do more harm than good. That was why they hadn’t wanted him going on alone, but it was also exactly why he had to. Peter knew, if Claire was dead when he found her, there would be nothing he, or anyone else, could do to stop him.

Turning the corner, at last Peter reached his destination. Like everything else, the room was dark; the emergency lights just beginning to stutter to life, casting an eerie glow to the scene. Peter went for the observation room first, only to find the door already open and the lock seemingly shot out. Stepping cautiously across the threshold, he encountered the first body.

The man, a guard by the look of his uniform, almost looked asleep except for the small trickle of blood that had seeped from his nose. Peter stooped down for a closer look and couldn’t account for his death in any other way. Straightening up, he noticed the glass. The window to the observation room was practically smashed out of its frame and covered in blood. Another quick look around the room showed why. A second guard lay near the window almost unrecognizable as human. He was covered in blood, and from the looks of it, had used his own head as a battering ram against the glass.

He didn’t know what to think. Peter couldn’t even imagine what had happened here, unless it was Yi. Jenny Yi could have induced these men with such graphic hallucinations, but why? They were her guards. It didn’t add up.

Taking a look through the broken and bloody glass, Peter spied the empty interrogation room. The chair was overturned and the door wide open, but otherwise it was empty and free from any signs of torture or abuse.

They had been here, he knew that. But where had they gone?

****

“They should have been here by now,” Hiro said nervously, looking about the courtyard as if he expected them to just materialize out of nothing.

Lauren remained quiet, only looked her agitation.

“Are you going to explain to us what happened? Where you’ve been?” Nathan questioned. “What you’ve been doing all this time?”

“We were at the Republic,” Lauren answered simply.

“I actually figured that one out,” Nathan snapped. “Seeing as you showed up with Peter and all.”

“Then what else is there to explain?”

Nathan shrugged, point conceded.

“They should be here,” Hiro repeated.

“Exactly what…” Nathan began, but trailed off as they heard the approach of an engine.

Mohinder and Nathan watched in astonishment as a jeep phased straight through the wall at full speed, screeching to a halt only a few yards away.

“Where are the guards?” Mohinder asked, anxiously looking around and expecting to hear gunfire at any moment.

“Micah ordered them away,” Hiro explained. “The other side of the building is on fire and he sent out electronic orders for everyone to report. He overloaded the generators and crashed their systems.”

“Is that going to hold all of us?” Nathan asked, unsure how many of them there actually were at this point.

“We’re going a few at a time in the jeep,” Hiro explained. “There is a helicopter waiting for us not far from here that will get us away much quicker.”

“Still,” Nathan reasoned, knowing some helicopters didn’t hold many.

“We’re only eight,” Lauren answered.

“Eight?” Mohinder questioned. “So D.L. and Micah… That’s all of us? That’s all…”

Lauren turned away and nodded as Nathan muttered an obscenity under his breath.

D.L. jumped out of the driver’s seat and ran over to join them with Micah close behind.

“I thought you were going with Peter?” he asked Hiro as soon as he was close enough to be heard.

“Change of plans,” Hiro returned and D.L. shook his head in exasperation.

“Damn it, Peter,” D.L. cursed, shaking his head before looking back at the group. “So, now what do we do?”

“He wanted us to wait,” Lauren said quietly.

“Half an hour,” Hiro added.

“Okay,” D.L. nodded. “We’ll wait and then…”

“We’re not leaving them here,” Nathan interrupted angrily.

“I didn’t say we were,” D.L. shot back. “We’ll give him half an hour, and if they’re still not back, we’ll go in after them.”

Nathan nodded, walking a bit away from the rest of the group with his head down.

“Dad,” Micah called. “I still need to get back. If we’re going to get out here as planned…”

“He’s right,” Hiro agreed.

“Alright,” D.L. said. “I can fit two more in the jeep. Mohinder, Nathan… let’s go. We don’t all need to stay.”

As they should have expected, both men immediately set to arguing against it; both insisting on being left behind.

“Enough. We came here to break you out,” D.L. finally snapped. “And that’s what we’re going to do. Now get in the jeep.”

“Fine,” Nathan said, “but since this is a rescue mission, there’s someone else we should be taking with us. Yi is keeping a pre-cog named Anthony on sight. He’s practically certifiable, but that shouldn’t be held against him.”

Hiro and D.L. exchanged wearied looks before turning to Mohinder who confirmed it was true.

“Where is he?” Hiro finally asked. “I’ll go and get him…”

“I’ll show you,” Nathan countered.

“Unbelievable,” Mohinder mumbled.

“And while we’re doing that,” Nathan went on, “D.L. can take Mohinder and the girl with him and Micah to the helicopter.”

“Girl?” Lauren repeated in disbelief. “No. No, I’m not going.”

“Lauren, maybe it’s…” D.L. started.

“No,” she argued, addressing D.L. and Hiro. “If there is trouble then I’d be more help here. No offense, but he only flies. That’s not going to stop anyone from getting hurt.”

“I’m not offended,” Nathan said smoothly, turning to face her directly. “And no, I can’t stop anyone, and what you do is much more useful, in this situation, which is exactly why you should be with the helicopter, ready to aid in our escape.”

Lauren clenched her jaw tight but made no rebuttal, only waited for Hiro and D.L. to decide.

“Lauren,” Hiro began, stopping as she shook her head in understanding.

“Let’s get going then,” D.L. urged, guiding Lauren gently with his hand on her back.

“One more thing,” Micah said, heading over to Nathan. “The inhibitor.”

Nathan nodded, turning so Micah could get a hold of it and remove the thing. When he was done, Micah cast one fleeting glance at Mohinder, but said nothing. Since they’d begun monitoring the Order’s systems, they’d learned more about what Yi was doing. She apparently wasn’t any more aware of Mohinder’s potential than Mohinder was himself. For now, they’d decided to keep it that way.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” D.L. called out to them.

Hiro nodded and watched the small group set off before motioning for Nathan to lead the way.

Nathan walked quick, feeling strangely free for the first time, probably due to the release of the inhibitor. He’d overcome it, but it had still been physically oppressive.

“God, I hope this isn’t some massive mind…,” he muttered as they approached their destination.

“Where is he?” Hiro asked.

“That’s his cell,” Nathan said, pointing out the building. “Looks like Micah did quite a job. I’ve never seen Anthony’s place left unguarded.”

Hiro cast him an odd glance before taking over as lead and striding purposefully towards the building. They had no problem getting in, it was unlocked, and he met no opposition, but as they neared his door Nathan paused.

“Should we knock?” he questioned. It finally struck him that the only time before they’d been here, Yi had actually shown Anthony some type of respect and had knocked.

“If he’s clairvoyant won’t he already know we’re here?”

“Good point,” Nathan answered as he pushed the door open. “Then again…”

Nathan and Hiro were greeted not by Anthony, but by his body hanging lifelessly from the ceiling just above his desk.

Nathan was shocked past words, and could only stare at the man with nothing short of abject horror.

“I’m sorry,” Hiro said quietly, lowering his eyes. “We really…”

“We need to take him down first,” Nathan interrupted, completely determined to do at least this if nothing else for Anthony.

Hiro glanced uneasily down the hallway, but then nodded in agreement. It wouldn’t be right to leave him this way; he knew that even if he hadn’t personally known the man.

They made quick work of it, neither speaking more than was strictly necessary, placing him on the cot that had been his bed for no one knew how long. Before covering him, Nathan noticed the note pinned to his chest. Pulling them free, he realized there wasn’t just a note but an envelope too.

“How sure are you that Parkman is dead?” Nathan asked Hiro after briefly examining both.

“She turned off his inhibitor,” Hiro shrugged. “Why else would she do that?”

Nathan nodded, but his eyes returned to the envelope almost immediately.

“What do you make of this then?” Nathan asked, holding it out for Hiro to see.

Written in neat block letters across the envelope were five words in Anthony’s distinctive hand.

OFFICER PARKMAN (OPEN BEFORE LEAVING)  



	26. Revelations

  
**Chapter 29: Reality**

It had been too much to watch. Matt wasn’t sure what had come over him, only that it had been too much to watch. Claire might not have realized it, but Jenny had been killing her. She’d been slowly suffocating her mind. Matt knew it and he’d only meant to stop it; he hadn’t realized what he was actually doing until it was too late. And he wasn’t done yet.

Walking swiftly down the corridors, the gun he’d lifted from the dead guard pressed tightly in his hand. Matt already knew where she’d go. He could still hear her frantic thoughts in his head.

He paused only once when the lights began to flicker and go out. It slowed Matt down, but not much. He was still able to follow the sound inside his head.

As he rounded the last corner, something changed. The fearful voice he’d been following dimmed, replaced by a steady buzz of static-like noise. This hall, this last one, was still lit. The lights were harsh, making it appear too white to be real, and the walls were stretching and pulling him towards the end where Jenny stood waiting.

Matt’s head began to ache as he stared at her. She looked different. Her skin was gray against the whiteness of her surroundings and when she did finally look at him, she fixed him with a gaze that was hard to match.

“You’re in over your head, Matthew.”

When she’d said it, her voice boomed and echoed and changed. It wasn’t just Jenny.

It was Claire. It was Audrey. It was Janice.

His mother; his father. Claire’s father.

Peter. Sylar. Nathan. Anthony.

Rapid cycles of voices and images filled not just his head, but his eyes, causing him to stagger backwards briefly. But Matt was determined. Shaking it off as best he could, he took his first step forward.

“You can’t stop me.”

The voices were louder now and nearer too. The images, the people he knew, surrounding him. Matt tried to focus, tried to remember that it wasn’t real. Jenny was just trying to distract him. She didn’t want him here, so this is where he needed to be.

He took another step.

“You’re nothing compared to me.”

It was blinding now, the hall gone and in it’s place a tunnel of light. The harshness of it forced him to shut his eyes, and yet still he saw it. None of it would go away. None of it would leave. The only way to end it was to end her. To reach Jenny and make her stop.

Three more steps forward and blood started to drip from his nose.

“Give up and go back now.”

His head throbbed from the noise and the surroundings. The blood was now coming from his ears. Image upon image racked his brain making it more difficult than ever to keep concentrating on what he was doing and why he was here. It would be easy to give up, but he couldn’t.

Another five steps, all staggered, but complete. He was nearly to her now. Almost there.

“When you die, I’ll be the only one with you.”

“I know,” Matt agreed, struggling to speak. “Anthony told me how it ends.”

Lunging the last few feet, Matt had made it. As soon as he tried to close his arms around her though, she was gone. Everything was gone. The hallway was once more just a hallway, complete with emergency lights stuttering to stay alive. The voices, the images, the noise: all of it gone.

Shaking his head he saw now that the distance was actually about ten feet, but it had felt like miles. And instead of Jenny, there was a door.

Matt wiped his hand across his nose out of habit; the blood didn’t concern him. He had to prepare himself for this. He had to be ready. Pausing, readjusting his grip on the gun he still held on to in his right hand, Matt reached with his left to slowly the pull the door open.

“Matt?”

He froze.

“Don’t believe her.”

Matt held the gun up, turning from one to the other, completely baffled.

“She’s the one. It’s her, not me. Can’t you tell?”

It was a perfect imitation that Jenny, whichever one she was, had no doubt been working on for some time using Matt’s memories of Claire.

“What is she doing to you?” Claire, the one on the left, asked, taking a tentative step forward.

“Stay back,” Matt said, immediately swinging the gun on her.

They were completely identical in every regard and each moved and spoke…

“Matt,” Claire, the one on his right, said now. “Maybe you should just put the gun down and…”

“I’m not putting down the gun,” Matt barked, turning it on her now instead. “Not until I know…”

“Okay,” Claire-on-his-left agreed, holding her hands up tentatively to try and relax him. “It’s okay, Matt, please…”

“Shut up,” he snapped, his eyes darting between them.

There was something more going on here, and he couldn’t figure it out; something more than just a masquerade. It was making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, but there was no placing it.

“Damn it,” he said, moving the gun back and forth between them; the strain starting to show in his voice. “I can’t tell… I can’t tell which…”

“Shoot us both then,” Claire-on-the-right said.

“Matt?” the other Claire called out, anything else she might have said drowned out by the sound of the first shot.

He’d done just as she’d said, shot Claire-on-the right square in the chest. Matt had paused briefly, turned the gun to the other Claire, before finally hearing it. The one stray thought that gave the whole game away and let the pieces all fall into place. It was in the space of a blink, and it was then that he turned the gun to the empty space between the two women.

Matt fired the gun until it was empty, and as soon as he hit his mark, the Claire he had shot disappeared. Jenny sprawled backwards, crashing into the lab table in a storm of bullets. Matt continued to advance on her, even after the gun began to ‘click’ instead of fire. Stopping to stand over her. Staring down in disbelief before dropping the gun.

“Matt?” Claire called out as she placed a hand tentatively on his arm, trying gently to move him from the spot. “Let’s go. Let’s… let’s get out of here. Right now, Matt. Please.”

“Is she…”

“Yes,” Claire answered, unable to give the body more than a brief glance. “She’s dead. Let’s…”

“It’s over?”

“It’s over,” Claire repeated, finally succeeding in pulling him a few feet towards the door.

“I couldn’t tell,” Matt said, shaking his head. “I couldn’t tell you apart. It wasn’t until I realized that you couldn’t see… You thought I’d lost it. You didn’t know what she was doing… Couldn’t see yourself there…”

“You’re hurt,” Claire sobbed, the weight of it all starting to crash upon her. “Let me…”

“I’m fine,” Matt insisted, stumbling out of her grasp and back into the hallway before doubling over in a wave of nausea.

“Oh, God,” Claire said, rushing to his side. “What did she do to you? What…”

Claire took his face in her hands and tried to suppress the cry that wanted so desperately to escape. He was bleeding now, badly, from his nose and mouth; even from his ears. Matt’s left eye had gone completely white, blinded and scarred in some way that Claire wasn’t sure how.

“I’ll make it okay,” she said, trying to hold him still as he’d begun to shake.

“No,” he mumbled, his voice thick. “Claire…”

“You’re going to be fine,” she shouted back at him angrily. “I won’t… After all this…”

“It’s what I was supposed to do…”

“No,” she said, shaking her head and refusing to let go of him. “You’re supposed to stay with me.”

“Claire,” he said, his voice getting weaker as he spoke. “You should know… You do know, don’t you? I know I never…”

“Shut up,” she said quickly, talking over his words. “You’re not going to die. I won’t let you.”

“You can’t keep me alive forever…”

“I can for now.”

Matt tried to repress a laugh and only partially succeeded. It came out instead like a cough, but the bleeding had finally stopped.

“I’m sorry,” he gasped. “I’m sorry for this and I’m sorry if I hurt you. I didn’t want…”

“I know you didn’t,” Claire said with a nod, fixating on his eyes; slowly clearing up the longer she watched.

“You know then,” he said, placing his hands over hers. “You…”

“I love you, too,” she said, smiling through her tears.

“Hey, I’m the mind reader here,” Matt said, breathing easier and sitting more upright than before.

“Well, then I shouldn’t have to tell you.”

Matt held her gaze for a moment before sighing and shaking his head, realizing there was so much still wrong between them. So many awful things he couldn’t forgive himself for. Hoping she wasn’t letting her concern for him mask her contempt. Searching her thoughts, looking for a sign that it wasn’t so very terrible as he feared.

“He told you,” he said, finally looking like himself again. “Nathan told you…”

“You knew?”

“Not at first,” Matt admitted, not happy to be dwelling on their last meeting before this. “I thought… I was wrong.”

“Can you stand?” Claire asked, apparently unaffected by his confession.

Matt nodded, letting her help him to his feet and he knew it wasn’t that Claire was carried away in the moment. She still loved him the way he loved her; it was all he had left now.

“Why did you do this?” she asked as they began to walk slowly down the hallway. “Matt, you didn’t have to. You didn’t…”

“Yes, I did.”

“Was it her? Did she…”

Claire’s voice trailed off as Matt suddenly froze in his tracks. Looking up, her first instinct was to run, but not away. Claire had actually taken a step forward when Matt’s hand closed tightly around her arm and pulled her backwards.

“Wait,” he said in a rush. “It could be…”

“She’s dead, Matt,” Claire said quietly. “It can’t be her. She’s dead. It has to be…”

“Claire?” the voice at the end of the hall called out. “Matt? Is that…”

“It’s him,” Claire said certainly, breaking into a smile she didn’t think she still had in her. “It’s Peter. It is, I know it is.”

Only Claire seemed sure. Both men continued to stare warily at one another until Matt had heard enough. He let go of her arm, he let go of her, and watched as she ran the rest of the way right into Peter’s arms.

Matt dropped his head to give them at least the appearance of privacy, turning his thoughts briefly to his last talk with Anthony.

Anthony had told him so many things, so many contradictory things, that at the time it was hard to imagine any of them would come true. But he’d gone along blindly, hopefully, and here they were. Anthony had said they’d get help, and here was Peter. He’d said that Jenny would try and kill Claire, and she had. Anthony had told Matt that he’d be the one to kill Jenny, and that came true too.

Matt was starting to believe that that ending Anthony kept promising him was actually a reality.  



	27. Revelations

  
**Chapter 30: Back**

Nathan was reading through the note left by Anthony for the fifth time when Hiro hit him on the arm, catching his attention.

“What?” Nathan inadvertently snapped.

“Look,” Hiro said as he pointed at the last doors on the building that opened to the courtyard; the doors farthest from them.

“I’ll be damned,” Nathan said with a low, almost maniacal, laugh. “They did it.”

Hiro was smiling now, waving, and even from the distance still between them, Nathan could see Peter and Claire return the gesture.

Nathan would have been relieved, would have been completely at ease, if they weren’t still inside the compound. But, he knew it was now just a matter of time. They were really getting out of here. All of them. Peter, Claire, and Parkman, all there, and until they got closer, he’d assumed intact.

“What happened?” Hiro asked first, as he and Nathan walked to meet them.

“Oh,” Matt said, wiping at his face again to little effect. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

“Where are D.L. and the others?” Peter asked, still with a protective arm around Claire.

“He should be back soon,” Hiro answered, casting a glance over his shoulder.

“Did you check on Anthony?” Matt asked.

“I’m sorry,” Hiro said gently. “He’s…”

But Matt had begun to nod knowingly even before the first words were spoken, making the rest obsolete.

“Did he leave anything?” Matt asked now instead.

“Just a note,” Hiro returned.

Despite Hiro’s answer to the question, Matt’s eyes fell suspiciously on Nathan.

“He’s here,” Peter said, walking purposefully into the courtyard. “Let’s get ready to go.”

It was a full minute before D.L.’s jeep passed through the wall and stopped beside them, Peter having heard him from a greater distance off.

D.L. smiled at them, a real smile that no one had seen in some time, and laughed much as Nathan had and obviously pleased to see them all together again.

“Who’s coming first?” he asked.

“Claire,” Nathan and Peter said at the same time.

“And Hiro,” Matt added, much to everyone’s initial surprise.

But, after a moment of consideration, Nathan wondered why he hadn’t suggested it himself. It seemed like the logical choice and no one questioned it at all.

“I can take one more,” D.L. offered, no longer smiling.

“We’ll be fine,” Peter said evenly.

“Good,” D.L. returned. “I can only take two, anyway.”

Peter turned to Matt, but only gave him one glance before shaking his head again in a quick, jerk like motion. Hiro and Claire climbed easily into the jeep and they all said their temporary goodbyes, D.L. promising to be back shortly with the helicopter for everyone left.

“Wait,” Matt said sharply, and D.L. immediately slammed on the brakes.

Matt walked up to the side of the vehicle, and stood for a moment, clearly conflicted. Ultimately he stepped back, and without saying anything waved them off again.

“What the hell are you doing?” Peter asked angrily as soon as the jeep was out of sight.

“I needed to talk to you two,” Matt answered. “Alone.”

As soon Matt had finished talking, it dawned on Nathan how unreal the last several minutes had been. From the moment Matt had mentioned the note, had stared at him, even before that, Nathan was now quite sure he hadn’t been acting under his own power.

“What did you just do?” Nathan asked, a bit late.

“Nothing permanent,” Matt said hastily. “You’ll be fine.”

“That doesn’t make it alright.”

“Shut up,” Matt barked, and Nathan found himself momentarily obeying and even eager to listen. “Anthony left a note. You need to follow it. Exactly.”

“Who’s Anthony?” Peter asked, way behind the curve.

“Nathan can explain later,’ Matt said, growing more agitated by the moment. “Follow the note. Whatever he says, do it. Okay?”

Peter nodded uncertainly.

“Now,” Matt said, facing Nathan directly. “Where’s my note?”

Nathan immediately produced it, but found he still had the strength to struggle; and he did.

“I’ll give you the note,” Nathan answered, holding up the envelope which had clearly been opened, “but, Parkman, I don’t know what he’s told you, or how much of it has even appeared to come true. I do know that pre-cogs, as a whole, aren’t accurate and can’t be trusted.”

“Give me the note.”

“Listen to me first and I will,” Nathan said, determined to hold out as long as possible. “After awhile, they start to lose it. Really lose it, Parkman. All their predictions get tainted because of it. They change what they see to suit their own needs.”

“Are you done?” Matt asked, holding out his hand.

Nathan nodded, handing him the envelope and trying to regain his bearings as he let out a long breath.

Matt looked down at the scrap of paper for a long time before ultimately shaking his head and issuing a humorless laugh.

“I didn’t check,” he muttered.

Peter and Nathan exchanged uneasy glances.

“I’ve got to go back,” Matt finally said, looking directly at Peter. “He’s right. I didn’t check. Claire said she was dead, but I didn’t check. I never looked for myself and Claire… she only wanted to get out of there.”

“Fine,” Peter said, immediately catching what Matt was going on about. “We’ll both go and…”

“No,” Matt interrupted harshly. “This is… this is my job. This is what I’m here for. I’ll do it. Claire is going to need you; she’s going to need both of you. Peter, everyone looks to you to lead. That’s why you’re here.”

“We’re not leaving you here,” Peter said, shaking his head at the idea. “Matt, you can’t expect us to do that. It’s just…”

“You’re going to do it,” Matt said quietly. “When the helicopter lands, you’re both getting on it and you’re going to get out of here.”

“And tell Claire what?” Nathan asked.

“Whatever you like,” Matt answered, but his voice was no longer hard. “You won’t have to tell her anything until it’s over. They’re not going to remember I was with you; I’ve already made sure of it. That should buy you some time to make something up.”

“What do you mean she won’t remember?” Nathan asked incredulously.

“I mean that I told them to forget,” Matt explained, rather impatiently. “I told all three of them to forget I was here. The rest will never know because I don’t plan on being here when they get back.”

“This is crazy,” Peter said humorlessly.

“No, Jenny Yi is crazy,” Matt corrected. “She’s obsessed and she’s probably still alive. She won’t stop until she finds us, you know that’s true. I can’t guarantee I can… I have to at least try. I may be able to slow her down enough… Don’t you see that this is the only way?”

“We can just all go,” Nathan argued, still not seeing why this had to be done at all. “We can all leave and get out of here and she’ll…”

“No,” Matt said, angry now. “You don’t get it. She is in my head. If I go, and she is still alive, she’s coming with us. I can’t go with you. I have to be here.”

“And if you manage it?” Peter asked. “If you do, then what? How do you expect to ever…”

“I don’t expect that,” Matt answered, dropping his eyes to the floor. “I’m not sure I can do this and…”

“We can arrange a meeting place,” Nathan suggested. “Like --”

“Don’t!” Matt snapped, but it was too late. He’s already heard the word _‘Boston’_ in his head. “You can’t tell me where you’re going. I can’t risk her pulling that information out of me, don’t you get it? That’s why there were two notes; one just for me. Wherever you go, I can’t know.”

“They’re almost here,” Peter said, turning his eyes to the sky as he could already hear the approaching whir of the helicopters blades.

“Matt,” Nathan said, not sure what else to say.

“You don’t have to do this,” Peter tried, but the sinking feeling in his stomach told him otherwise.

“Did you leave anyone alive at Primatech?” Matt asked.

Peter only shook his head.

“It’s the same thing,” Matt said evenly. “It’s only buying time. Eventually, there will be someone else, but it’s the best we can do now. It’s the most I can do…”

“Let me help,” Nathan offered. “Peter, he’s right. You do need to go with the rest. They do need you and Claire… Let me help do this. Please.”

“Nathan, I appreciate it,” Matt said, almost smiling at the thought. “I really do, but you’re going to get on that helicopter when it shows up and you’re not going to come back.”

Peter watched, equally fascinated and disturbed, as his brother’s eyes partially glazed over and the order sunk in.

Matt turned quickly, the helicopter now being heard by them all, to rush out of sight.

“Good luck,” Peter called after him.

“Take care of her,” Matt called back before ducking inside.

Nathan, apparently having forgotten Matt had been with them, turned to watch as the helicopter landed. Peter, who couldn’t forget, continued to watch the door Matt had gone back in through.

“Come on,” Nathan said, grabbing him by the arm. “The lights are coming on. We need to hurry.”

Peter scanned the grounds quickly, surprised to find it was true. The Order was springing back to life, a sure sign Matt had been right after all. Jenny Yi was likely still alive.

They both scrambled across the yard and into the very back seat of the copter, Peter next to Claire and Nathan just across.

“Let’s go,” Peter called up to the front where Micah was at the helm.

“Where to?” was the return.

“North,” Peter returned, motioning for Nathan to pass him Anthony’s letter. “For now, just go north.”

“You got it,” Micah called back.

As soon as they were in the air Peter took the offered letter and briefly scanned it, looking for any directions Matt had felt Anthony would leave, but saw none. Going over it more carefully, Peter was left with an uneasy sense of guilt. It read:

THIS WASN’T THE ENDING YOU WERE EXPECTING.

BUT JUST BECAUSE IT WASN’T EXPECTED, DOES THAT MAKE IT ANY LESS REAL? THE MORE I SEE THE MORE I BEGIN TO THINK THAT THERE IS NO FUTURE. THERE IS NO FATE AND NO DESTINY. THAT NONE OF IT CAN BE WRITTEN UNTIL IT IS THE PAST.

WE CHOOSE AND MAKE OUR OWN PATHS. I HAVE MADE MINE. I HAVE MADE YOURS AS WELL, AND I AM SORRY. BUT THE OUTCOMES ARE LIMITLESS. YOU CAN CHANGE DIRECTION WHENEVER YOU DECIDE. JUST BECAUSE IT HAS NOT BEEN WRITTEN, DOES NOT MEAN IT CAN NOT BE.

I HAVE NOTHING MORE TO OFFER YOU EXCEPT THIS: GO NORTH. GO FAR NORTH, BUT NOT TOO FAR. YOU KNOW THE DANGERS I DON’T WANT TO WRITE ABOUT. YOU WILL KNOW THEM WHEN THEY COME SEEKING YOU.

I WISH EVERYTHING I WROTE DID COME TRUE. IF ONLY IT WAS SO EASY.

Claire gently tugged the letter from his hand, reading it now for herself. Peter couldn’t stand to watch her. He could only look back, the only person left who remembered that they had a reason to do so.  


  
**Chapter 31: Fight**

By the time Matt had made it a hundred feet inside the building, he knew he’d been right. He could practically feel Jenny Yi reaching out to him, but he’d shut her down. Matt wouldn’t let her know what he was up to until he was ready for her. Instead, he retraced his steps back to the lab where he’d left her last.

Getting there was easy. The lights were starting to come back on now, but the halls were still empty. One look told him the truth. Where she had once been lying, not long ago, was a pool of blood but no body. Matt couldn’t account for it, not at first.

Beside the pool of blood were the scattered remains of what had been on the lab table; among those was the storage unit for Mohinder’s experiments in genetics.

Bloody fingerprints and empty vials littered the area along with the bullets he’d fired at her, and Matt knew that Jenny had finally found the cure.

Exiting the room didn’t prove as easy as entering it.

“Stop right there and get your hands up,” a guard with a gun yelled at him.

“Go away,” Matt said.

He never even slowed down and the man simply turned and let him go.

Hallway after hallway, whenever Matt ran into anyone who tried to slow or stop him from his ultimate destination, he simply told them what to do and they did it. He didn’t hurt anyone, he didn’t want to, he either made them leave, or forget, or fall asleep. It was too easy.

Matt knew where she’d be. He knew where she was waiting for him. No tricks this time; she wouldn’t try to stop him. This time Jenny would welcome him and this time she’d be harder to kill.

He pushed open the door to what was once the oval office with ease, and she was sitting, waiting for him calmly on the couch.

“Surprised?” she asked.

Matt said nothing, only shut the door and waited.

“I guess not,” Jenny continued, “or else you wouldn’t be here.”

He silently took her appearance; the dried blood across her chest; the holes where bullets had once been; a dark red smudge across her cheek.

“I almost died,” she said, getting to her feet but coming no nearer. “I bet you did too. I can feel it; it was a close call. And, she’s not here to save you anymore, is she? She’s gone. Long gone. Her and that boyfriend of hers. That’s got to hurt. They left you here, did they? But I guess that’s what works for you. She’s happy to let you die for her and you’re happy to do it.”

Matt felt it, but it was unlike any thing she’d done before. Jenny wasn’t just pushing her way into his mind; she was storming her way through.

“Get out of my head.”

“Make me,” she returned with a small, sick smile.

****

By the time Claire had finished the note, they were barely outside the walls of the compound. Micah was taking it easy, trying not to appear in a hurry, in an effort to further avoid detection. All around them lights were beginning to turn back on.

Everything was alright, yet something still felt wrong.

Claire looked at Nathan and his expression matched hers completely in sentiment.

It was one of confusion.

Claire looked from Nathan to Peter and smiled, briefly reassured. He returned the smile easily, and Claire turned her head catching a glimpse of Lauren, Hiro, and Mohinder, and finally D.L. and Micah.

That’s when it struck her.

“Where’s Matt?”

Lauren and Hiro both turned in their seats.

“He… he didn’t make it,” Lauren answered uneasily; clearly stunned no one had said anything before. “Didn’t they tell you?”

“No,” Claire said, turning her attention back to Peter and Nathan; the later of the two no longer looking confused, only surprised. “No. He did… he did… I saw him. He was with us. Peter? Nathan?”

“He was with us,” Hiro echoed. “He came out of the building with you. I remember our surprise. We hadn’t expected him.”

“But I thought…” Lauren began, only to be interrupted.

“We were wrong,” Peter said loudly. “We…”

But he couldn’t finish. He couldn’t flat out lie to Claire, or to any of them.

“He asked us to go,” Peter finally admitted.

“Peter,” Nathan said warningly, remembering now why Matt had done it.

“You left him?” Claire asked loudly. “Why? Why would you do that?”

“Claire, I didn’t…” Peter tried.

“Go back!” she yelled. “We have to go back, right now!”

“We can’t do that,” Nathan argued. “Claire…”

“No,” she snapped. “Peter, tell Micah to go back.”

Peter looked momentarily as if he were about to comply, but Nathan was shaking his head.

“You can’t do that,” Nathan continued, pressing the issue. “They’re on full alert by now. They’ll shoot us out of the sky.”

“We can set down and I’ll go back,” Peter reasoned. “I should have never…”

“Oh my God!” Lauren screamed.

Nathan and Peter turned as one toward Claire’s now empty seat.

“She jumped,” Lauren said hysterically. “She jumped!”

“She’s fine,” Mohinder was already saying. “She’s up, but where…”

“Micah, land us,” Peter yelled towards the front of the craft. “Now!”

“Son of a bitch,” Nathan muttered struggling to get out of his seat harness.

“What are you doing?” Peter asked him, close to panic.

“I’m trying to go after her if I could just get this damn thing off,” he returned.

“We’ll be down in a minute,” Micah called back to them all.

“Wait,” Peter said, pressing a hand to Nathan’s chest and feeling suddenly at ease; as if he knew that whatever had to be done, was done. “Just wait.”

“He gave us one thing to do, Peter,” Nathan said angrily. “One damn thing; and we just screwed it.”

“It’s going to be okay,” Peter said calmly as the helicopter finally set down.

“How can you say that?”

“Because I know it’s true.”

****

He was bleeding but that wasn’t what concerned Matt at the moment. The blood was nothing to him. It was nothing to her. This wasn’t about physical injuries, not really. It was about mind control. At its essence, it was simple.

She scrounged up memories that even he had forgotten about, and he returned the favor by pouring every spare thought he could find into her head.

Jenny sent the room spinning and Matt made her forget that there was a room to begin with.

It was a twisted game neither could win, but only Matt realized that. Jenny seemed to think she could still walk away from this. That she was still ultimately in control. Matt had resigned himself to the fact that ultimately it would destroy them both.

Jenny, who had always been about self preservation, would never willingly go that far.

Matt, who had long been used to self denial, would never stop until she did.

“This is nothing,” she said thickly, wiping the blood from her mouth. “Nothing.”

“You’re lying.”

She pulled and twisting, ripping through his head; weeding out memories to use against him and obliterating years.

He blocked and denied, concentrating her efforts back at her; finding every ounce of guilt, every scrap of terror she’d experienced, to use against her.

“Die already!” she bellowed, falling to her knees.

The blood was now flowing freely from her mouth and nose. She couldn’t keep up, but continued to try. To try and take him with her if possible, as it began to dawn on her exactly what was happening; passing image after image, each more exaggerated and gruesome than the last, across his mind.

Matt finally staggered backwards into the wall, bleeding profoundly as well. He could sense her weakening, but he could sense it in himself as well. All he could do was hold on. To finish this and ensure she’d really died this time. That she stayed dead.

“Let go,” he told her. “Just let go.”

Jenny, her body beginning to convulse, still smiled at him.

“I’m never letting go,” she said. “I’m in your head and I’m never letting go.”

Matt, never sure if she’d spoken the words or not, shuddered over them.

“As long as you’re alive,” she continued with an icy calm. “I’m alive.”

Now it was Matt’s turn to smile.

“That’s what I was counting on.”

****

Claire had run. She’d run the entire distance without looking back. The helicopter hadn’t gone far, and she’d recovered quickly from the fall, but she knew that time was not on her side.

Half expecting Peter, or even Nathan, to come up behind her only made her go faster.

She was back at the compound in record time, if only slightly exhausted; it was the adrenaline, she reasoned; and the fear.

Claire strode purposefully into the building, completely unafraid.

“What…” a guard said, quickly spotting her and raising his gun. “What are you doing? Stand down, miss. Right now.”

Claire walked past him without stopping until he shot her in the arm.

It hadn’t even hurt, and it was completely healed before Claire had even turned back around.

“Stop,” the man ordered once more.

“I don’t have time for you,” she sighed, walking purposefully towards him.

He fired two more shots, one clean through her throat, but it barely slowed her progress. By the time he was stuttering and backing himself into the wall, Claire and pulled the gun from his hand and shot him once in the knee.

“Stay there,” she snapped, taking the gun with her as she rushed down the hall.

Without knowing why, Claire knew where she needed to be. It was an eerie realization, that the information had just come to her, but not entirely unpleasant. She could only imagine it must have been from Matt. That he must have sent her at least one last message telepathically; a way to find him again.

Even before she’d gotten completely inside the room, she realized her mistake. It hadn’t been a way to find him, only a way to find his body.  


  
**Chapter 32: Acceptance**

They weren’t far behind her.

Peter and Nathan had taken only a few minutes to decide a plan. They’d go in after Claire and Matt while everyone else stayed with the helicopter. Micah gave them a radio to call him when they were ready to be picked up, and hopefully they’d all come out again.

If they didn’t hear anything in under an hour, Peter wanted them to go north without them.

As they approached the room, both men knew what had happened; they could hear Claire crying from within.

Peter pushed the door opened, greeted by lifeless body of Jenny Yi sprawled out on the couch, her eyes still open and gazing up at the ceiling.

It was clear Matt had succeeded, that Jenny wouldn’t be coming back after this, and neither man could find even the smallest bit of remorse for her death; she’d been a monster.

Claire, during all this, hadn’t seemed to realize they were even there. She was sitting near the door, holding tightly to Matt’s lifeless form, her entire body racked with sobs.

“Claire,” Peter said gently, kneeling next to her and touching her lightly on the shoulder, only to find she’d shrugged him off. “It’s… It’s alright.”

“It’s going to work,” she said, her eyes full of tears. “I just need another minute. It worked before. It’s always worked.”

“Claire,” Nathan tried, stopped abruptly by the hateful look she threw his way.

“There’s nothing you can do for him,” Peter tried instead, his voice still soft and full of compassion. “I don’t think he wants…”

“Why would he want to die?” Claire interrupted angrily. “He can’t… After all this, he can’t. He can’t.”

Peter exchanged a glance with Nathan, who shrugged in return, not knowing what to say. Claire, catching the encounter, turned her eyes to Nathan.

“Why are you even here?” she asked, her voice bitter as she lashed out. “You didn’t even like him. You hated him. You never trusted him. I don’t want you here. Just… just get out. Go away.”

“I’m trying to help,” Nathan said evenly.

“It’s too late for your help,” Claire spat back at him. “I don’t want it and I don’t need it. You can’t just decide… you can’t….”

“Claire,” Peter tried, taking hold of her arm. “Calm down, please.”

“No,” she shouted, addressing Peter again and once more ripping free of his grasp. “No, I won’t. This is his fault. He… He started this and…” Claire’s voice faded, exhausted with rage. “It’s because of him. It’s…”

“Matt knew what was going to happen when he came back,” Peter said, quiet but firm. “We both tried…”

“Then you didn’t try hard enough,” she sobbed, and Peter realized there was no point in arguing with her like this.

Looking back up to his brother, Nathan was far too easy to read. Peter hadn’t recalled him ever being so visibly upset by anything before, but Claire had definitely struck a nerve.

“Call Micah,” Peter said, tossing him the radio. “Tell him we’ll be outside in five minutes.”

“I’m not leaving him here,” Claire said, her voice still shaky.

“I know,” Peter nodded. “We’ll take him with us, okay?”

Claire nodded, composing herself best she could, as Peter helped her get shakily to her feet. Nathan had stepped out of the room to make the call, leaving them briefly alone. Peter had no idea what to say or do for her at this point, other than what he was doing now which wasn’t much.

“They’re on their way,” Nathan said, eyes down as he came back in.

“Help me,” Peter said, indicating the body. For a moment, Nathan hesitated, almost sure Claire would object. However she either didn’t mind or didn’t have the energy left to object; she only followed slowly behind them as they carried Matt back outside.

By they time they’d returned to the courtyard, the helicopter was waiting. Mohinder and D.L. hopped quickly out and helped with the effort. Matt was laid in the very back bench, across from where Peter and Claire sat, Nathan opting to move to the middle near Mohinder, Hiro and Lauren.

“Let’s go,” Peter called to Micah, and within seconds they were airborne again.

No one spoke; the shock was too great.

Micah tried to concentrate on what needed to be done. Peter hadn’t given him very clear directions, there was a lot of place north could mean, but he meant to follow them. Secretly glad he had something to do at the moment, something to distract him from another death he didn’t want to face.

D.L. kept his focus as well; it was all he could do. He wouldn’t break down in front of his son, or in front of anyone else. Matt had been the closest friend he’d had left. He’d have done anything to prevent this, but was frustrated to find he wasn’t even given a chance. And now, it was just too late. If Claire hadn’t brought him back by now, it was hopeless.

Mohinder had dropped his head into his hands, still not entirely convinced the experience was real. On some level he realized it was just easier to think that, way easier than dealing with the reality of the situation, but it didn’t stop him from doing so. He’d rather wake up now, back on the inside, than have this be real. It wasn’t fair for it to end this way.

Lauren, the only one there who hadn’t known Matt personally, was grieved for them. She knew the loss was devastating, knew what high regard Claire and D.L., that most of them held Matt in, and couldn’t imagine what would happen next. She felt that if they staid together, it would be okay. Eventually it would have to be.

Hiro wrung his hands and worried he’d done too little. Already second guessing all of his actions, and how many ways he might have made it different. If he’d only argued harder for Peter to take him with them so that he could stop time and save time. But he hadn’t. He felt the most to blame because he’d not taken enough responsibility. He was sorry that so many would suffer from his mistake.

Nathan sat and stared endlessly at the back of the helicopter, his thoughts turning restlessly in his mind. Claire had been right to be so angry with him; he’d deserved that. He only wished he could prove to her that he’d been sincere. He wanted to make this better and there was nothing he could do to bring that around. He’d never deserve her forgiveness.

Peter sat beside Claire tentatively placing an arm around her shoulder; relieved when she didn’t pull away. He’d never be able to explain to Claire why Matt had done what he’d done, but he knew it had been right. He’d been in that situation himself, and Matt had simply done the only thing he could to protect her. Matt had died protecting Claire and left Peter behind to do the same.

_‘Take care of her.’_

Those words would haunt his dreams.

Claire, still crying silently, sat next to Peter and held Matt’s hand. She couldn’t let go, not yet. Her mind had started to process it, to make it real, but she still couldn’t let go. Matt had been her closest friend, her advisor and mentor, and her reluctant guardian. She put all her faith in him, had laughed and fought with him, and it was selfish to want him back, but she still couldn’t let go.

“I don’t want you to leave me,” she whispered, prompting Peter to pull her closer.

Claire continued to hold on to him, shaking her head resolutely. Thinking, over and over, that this just couldn’t be it. They’d come so far together, farther than they’d both thought possible. She couldn’t let him die for her; not again. She wouldn’t.

Matt gasped.

****

A few hours found them back in Boston.

They had little choice, as there was no where else they could think of to go. Plus, it was familiar and as good of a starting off point as any. It was agreed that they couldn’t stay, too many people inside the Order had known that was their previous location, but it would do for a few weeks.

Matt was understandably shaken, as were they all. It took him the rest of the flight to recuperate, both Claire and Peter helping him along, and even longer for him to process the fact that he’d been fully dead for at least half an hour.

While Peter thought everyone would need more time, a few days saw a lot of changes. Everyone appeared mostly optimistic and eager to move on; nearly everyone. Nathan had never gotten over the sting of Claire’s comments to him and seemed more downcast than Peter had recalled seeing him before. Matt was also not himself; he was purposefully keeping his distance from the majority of the group, and spending much of his free time at the graves dug earlier that year by D.L. and Hiro.

Claire had seemed to forgive Peter his part in leaving Matt behind, but not Nathan. Peter was fairly certain that Matt had told her himself exactly what he’d done, and how he’d forced them to go along, but it was to no avail. Claire seemed determined to hate him, and Peter could only hope in time she’d learn to change her mind. Nathan might not be his real brother, but he was still the only one he had. And, even if Claire detested the truth, Nathan was her father. Eventually they’d all have to come to terms with their unique arrangement.

Hiro, accompanied by Lauren, on what she claimed would be her last scouting expedition, set off soon after they arrived for a new place to live. They were both familiar enough with the land to have an idea already in mind before they left, and returned a few days later with what sounded like an ideal spot. It was north, far north, but not too far. Upper Maine, to a cluster of deserted houses on a small series of farms, complete with a town nearby.

It being winter already, they had to set out immediately if they wanted to make it before the heavy snows set in. So far the winter had been light, but it wasn’t likely to stay that way.

The day before they were to leave, Matt pulled Claire aside for a conversation he didn’t want to have, but had to.

“I’m not coming.”

Claire looked at him with a bemused smile, not understanding if he was joking or what he else he could possibly mean by that.

“I’m serious, Claire,” Matt repeated. “I’m not coming with you. I can’t. Not yet.”

“Matt,” Claire said, shaking her head and still smiling disbelievingly. “You have to come. We’re all going. This is… this is what we’ve wanted.”

“I know,” he answered her, looking down and shaking his head.

“You don’t want to go? Is it because of…”

“It’s because of me,” Matt interrupted quickly. “This has nothing to do with you or Peter or Nathan or anyone but me, Claire.”

“I don’t understand,” Claire said, her voice suddenly tight. “You’re just…”

“I wish I could explain it…” Matt told her. “I… I need some time to figure things out… to figure out this… this thing inside my head.”

“We’ve talked about this,” she returned, shaking her head adamantly. “We talked about this already. She’s not inside you. She’s dead, Matt. I didn’t bring her back with you. It’s just you.”

“I know,” Matt agreed, taking hold of her hand and squeezing it gratefully. “I know you did. But that’s not what I meant. I know I was confused at first and said and thought things… I know it’s not her. It’s me.”

“What’s you? What…”

“I told someone to die and they did, Claire,” Matt said without meeting her eyes.

“Not because you wanted to.”

“It was still wrong,” Matt argued, his voice rising a bit as he spoke. “Don’t you see that?”

“I know it was wrong, but…”

“I don’t have any control over it,” Matt interrupted. “Not yet. And until I do, I can’t be around you or anyone I love and care about. It’s not worth the risk.”

“You’d never hurt any of us.”

“I’ve already been in and out of your heads, altering your memories to suit my needs. I felt justified doing that, I though I needed to, but it doesn’t make it right. I planted suggestions and false memories and… and, Claire, I don’t want to end up like her.”

Claire forced him to look up at her, to look into her eyes; holding them with hers for a long minute.

“You’re really going,” Claire said defeated. “You’re really…”

“I won’t be gone forever.”

“For how long then?”

“Until I’ve got it figured out,” he sighed.

“At least come with us,” Claire argued, her last hope. “Come with us to Maine. You… you won’t know where we’ll be if you don’t.”

“If I go with you now, I won’t ever leave,” Matt said, smiling and shaking his head. “We both know that.”

“How are you going to know where we are?” she asked, tears in her eyes as she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down into a hug.

“Don’t worry,” he returned, squeezing her back. “I’ll find you.”

****

It was late spring and the farm was beautiful. The place had been ideal, with several good size houses situated closely on a patch of farmland. They’d all adjusted quite well to living there and, after three years, saw no reason to leave. Everyone there considered it a home.

“Good morning, Claire,” Ben said cheerfully as he stepped into the kitchen. “How are you doing today?”

Ben and his adopted daughter, Rebecca, had arrived during that first year, fitting in with almost everyone immediately.

“I’m good,” she said smiling. “How are you?”

“Better if I knew where Rebecca had slipped off to? Have you seen her?”

Claire chuckled and shook her head. “Have you checked the generator shed?”

“Why would she be there?”

“Because she was asking where Micah was,” Claire said, “and I think she has a little bit of a crush on him.”

“She’s only sixteen,” he sighed.

“Yeah, sixteen,” Claire laughed.

“Oh, well,” he said, throwing his hands in the air. “I suppose it could be worse. Micah’s a good kid.”

“He’s almost nineteen,” Claire said, still laughing.

“I feel suddenly old,” he said, running his hand through his mop of curls. “Should I go and check on them or…”

“Let them be,” Claire suggested.

“I’ll be off then,” he said with a nod. “Don’t know where I’m going, but somewhere to pretend I don’t know where they’re at.”

“Good idea,” Claire called after them.

“What’s a good idea?” Peter asked, coming into the room and kissing her quickly on the cheek.

“Nothing,” Claire said dismissively. “Just Ben pretending he doesn’t know that Rebecca and Micah are in love.”

“What?”

“You didn’t know either?” Claire asked, surprised.

“Or course I did,” Peter said with a smile, kissing her again. “I’m just teasing you.”

“What have you got planned for today?”

“Hiro, Mohinder and I are going to take a look around the fields. See what needs to be done, same as last year. What about you?”

“I’m going to enjoy the momentary quiet,” Claire answered. “And then Lauren, Bethany and I are going to clean out the barns…”

“Sounds fun,” Peter interjected.

“It is,” Claire commented before continuing, “and then probably do nothing for as long as possible.”

“What about Nathan?”

“He’s watching Noah,” Claire said, pointing out the window to the small field beside the house.

“It looks more like he’s getting Lauren to watch Noah,” Peter said with a snicker.

Claire watched the three of them from the window for a moment before turning back to Peter.

“Will you be back for lunch?”

“Yeah,” he said, moving towards the door. “It should only take the morning.”

“Okay,” Claire said with a nod.

“Are you okay?” Peter asked before walking out the door.

“Yeah,” Claire sighed. “I just… I don’t know. I feel a little…”

“Off?”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “Nervous. Anxious. I don’t know…”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Peter said, smiling reassuringly.

“No,” she said with a nod. “It is. I know it it’s fine. Have a good day. I’ll see you for lunch.”

“Bye,” he said, kissing her again for good measure.

Claire heard the front door shut, and watched with amusement as Noah ran straight out of Nathan’s arms, barreling towards Peter yelling, “Daddy!”.

Peter caught him easily, throwing him into the air with a laugh, before kissing him, and setting him back down again, making sure to tell him to mind his uncle.

It was rare that she got any alone time like this. Everyone was always in and out of their house, but she didn’t really mind it. These were all her friends, and her family, and it wouldn’t feel so much like a home if they weren’t a part of it.

Claire hadn’t thought it would be possible again, this kind of happiness, but here it was. They’d all suffered and sacrificed to get to this point, the people she loved best perhaps the most scarred for it, but it had been worth it. The future still felt uncertain, but it didn’t feel hopeless. It wasn’t a perfect life, but it was as near to as she’d ever known and she was grateful every day to be in it.

Continuing with her cleaning up of the counter and doing the remainder of the dishes, Claire continued to be uneasy without cause. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, only different. It was as if something was pulling at her. Or someone. She couldn’t quite…

“Noah!”

Claire turned suddenly to look out the window, surprised to hear Nathan shout so loudly, as he’d never even raised his voice at the tot before.

Lauren caught here eye and nodded with a smile, indicating that it was alright, but Claire couldn’t see either Nathan or Noah now and she didn’t like that one bit.

Moving quickly to the foyer to see for herself where they’d gone, the door opened before she got more than halfway there.

“Is this yours?”

Claire was so shocked she could only nod before taking the offered child back into her arms.

“He is,” she finally managed, smiling through her tears. “This is Noah. Noah, this is my very good friend, Matt.”

“Hi,” the boy said shyly, burying his head into the crook of his mother’s neck.

“It’s nice to meet you, Noah,” Matt said warmly.

“I’ll take him,” Lauren said, coming in and gently leading the child out again. “Come on, Noah.”

“That’s just…” Matt stammered, shaking his head. “That’s, wow. Claire. Wow. How old is he?”

“Almost two,” Claire answered, rubbing her hand across her face.

“Two?” Matt asked, looking as awkward as felt. “He’s a big kid.”

“He is.”

“He’s beautiful, Claire. He’s…”

“Shut up,” Claire laughed, stepping forward and into a hug.

“I’ve missed you.”

“It’s alright,” she said. “You’re home now.”


End file.
